Baltic Region Faces No Threats Justifying Militarization - Moscow

There are no threats in the Baltic region that would justify its militarization, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said after meeting with his Finnish counterpart on Monday.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Moscow has shared concerns about NATO's increased activity in the region and about the advance of the alliance's infrastructure closer to the Russian borders, the Russian minister noted.

"We have paid great attention to security issues in the Baltic Sea area. We are convinced that there are no threats that would justify militarization in this part of the world," Lavrov said at a press conference.

"We are confident that all the issues of cooperation in the Baltic Sea are and the north in general can and should be resolved within the framework of existing multilateral formats in the Baltic Sea, the Barents Sea and the Arctic region," Lavrov stressed.

Since 2014, NATO has been building up its military presence in Europe, particularly in eastern European countries bordering Russia, using Moscow's alleged interference in Ukraine's crisis as a pretext for the move. Moscow has repeatedly denied the claims and warned NATO that the military buildup on Russia’s borders is provocative.