Russia to Respond to Hostile Actions of Baltic States With Asymmetric Measures

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Moscow will respond to the hostile actions of the Baltic states with asymmetric measures in the economic and transit spheres, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told Sputnik.

Russia's retaliatory measures, including the redirection of cargo flows to Russia's northwestern ports, have had an extremely negative impact on the Baltic countries' budget revenues, Zakharova said.

"We will also respond to the hostile actions of the Baltic states with asymmetric measures, primarily in the economic and transit spheres," she said.

At the same time, Moscow will continue to use diplomatic measures to influence the Baltic states and it is highly undesirable to reach the point of terminating the activities of diplomatic missions, taking into account Russians living there, the spokeswoman said.

"Russophobia and domestic discrimination are growing there, including harassment of children in schools and even kindergartens. The Russian language is being almost completely pushed out of all spheres of public life, including the education system, and the Russian information presence has been eliminated," she said.

Zakharova also recalled that two Latvian and one Estonian diplomat were recently expelled from Russia in retaliation for the countries' hostile actions towards Moscow.

"Last year, after Tallinn downsized our embassy, we downgraded diplomatic relations with Estonia to charge d'affaires ad interim, and the Estonian ambassador was ordered to leave the Russian Federation," she said.

In mid-March, the Russian Foreign Ministry responded to the hostile policy of the Baltic states towards Moscow by banning 347 citizens of Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia, including a minister, deputies, public figures and journalists, from entering the country. The ministry cited "active lobbying by Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia for sanctions measures, interference in Russia's internal affairs and persecution of the Russian-speaking population."