April 15, 2025
Poland and the Baltic states would be the “first to suffer” in a direct conflict between NATO and the Russian Federation, Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) Director Sergey Naryshkin said on April 15.
The nations along NATO’s eastern flank have sounded the alarm on escalating threats from Russia since Moscow launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Any NATO aggression against Russia or Belarus would have damaging consequences for Poland and the Baltic countries of Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia, Naryshkin told the Russian state news outlet TASS.
“They should understand, but do not yet understand, that in the event of aggression by the North Atlantic Alliance against (Russia and Belarus), damage will be done, of course, to the entire NATO bloc, but to a greater extent, the first to suffer will be the bearers of such ideas among the political circles of Poland and the Baltic countries,” Naryshkin said.
These countries have shown “high aggressiveness” towards Russia, he said, accusing Poland and the Baltics of “constantly rattling their weapons.” Naryshkin singled out Poland for its plans to install anti-personnel mines along the border with Belarus and Russia’s heavily militarized Kaliningrad exclave, as well as Warsaw’s request for the U.S. to deploy nuclear weapons in Poland.
Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Poland on March 18 announced their withdrawal from the Ottawa Convention, an international treaty banning the use, production, and stockpiling of anti-personnel mines, citing “fundamentally deteriorated” security in the region.
The defense ministers of the four countries said military threats from Russia and Belarus had “significantly increased.”
Naryshkin called this posture “sad” and implied that NATO was to blame for Russia’s all-out war against Ukraine — an oft-repeated Kremlin propaganda narrative used to justify the unprovoked invasion of a sovereign country.
“(Poland and the Baltic countries) just can’t understand that it was the build-up of military activity on the borders of Russia and Belarus that became one of the factors, one of the reasons for the current large, acute, and very dangerous crisis on the European continent,” Naryshkin claimed.
This narrative has found traction with some members of U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration, including Trump himself. As Russian officials escalate rhetoric against NATO member states, the White House is reportedly planning drastic funding cuts to the Alliance.
Some members of Trump’s circle, including billionaire Elon Musk, have called for the U.S. to exit NATO althogether. The U.S. is also likely planning to withdraw some 10,000 troops from member states in Eastern Europe.
President Volodymyr Zelensky warned on April 13 that if Russia is not stopped in Ukraine, its next step may be to seize NATO territory and trigger a global conflict. Western leaders and intelligence agencies have warned of a potential large-scale war in Europe within the next five years due to Russia’s increased aggression.
https://kyivindependent.com/first-to-suffer-russia-singles-out-poland-baltics-in-threat-to-nato
“These countries have shown “high aggressiveness” towards Russia, he said, accusing Poland and the Baltics of “constantly rattling their weapons.”
Says the fascist crime syndicate that started the worst war since WWII, and has conducted countless aggressive acts against them and Europe as a whole.
It’s not easy to remain composed in the face of such childish yet wicked behavior. A lot more aggressiveness towards this shithole would be the right answer. And the best way is to assure a Ukrainian victory, otherwise this will become a situation that only sees more wars, deaths, and destruction.
If they are in a panic about NATO rattling their weapons, god help them when the weapons are used for real.
In another life, perhaps.
“They should understand, but do not yet understand, that in the event of aggression by the North Atlantic Alliance against (Russia and Belarus), damage will be done, of course, to the entire NATO bloc, but to a greater extent, the first to suffer will be the bearers of such ideas among the political circles of Poland and the Baltic countries,”
For a country that is struggling to take the small city of Pokrovsk, your threats are as empty as Trump’s brain.
That’s pretty empty! 😂
Well he did say he had the highest score in any cognitive test in history. So maybe he is smarter than he looks. 😂
He claims a lot on any given day. 🤡
I’m Polish and Lithuanian, my ancestry blood says – “bring it orcs”, you bunch of F-heads,
Don’t worry, Mike, the cockroaches can’t even defeat Ukraine, and as long as they’re burning up their military in Ukraine, the rest of Europe is safe.
I can’t wait to see the charge of the donkey brigade down the Suwalki gap. 😂
Well, don’t ignore this possibility! 🤡🤡🤡
Of course anything coming from kremkrappers is nonsense; that’s a given. But they particularly want to keep the threats to Poland at boiling point. The reason is that Poland is a growing military power and they don’t want Poland to commit troops to Ukraine.
That strategy is clearly working.