BERLIN, May 31. /TASS/. The drills that Russia and NATO countries will conduct in the Baltic Sea next week will overlap at some point, which carries the risk of escalation, the Bild newspaper writes.
NATO’s BALTOPS 2025 naval exercise, part of the series that has been taking place in the Baltic Sea since 1972, will kick off on June 3. "This time, NATO won’t be alone," the paper notes, adding that on Tuesday, "Russia launched drills in the region, a month earlier than usual." The forces of Russia and NATO forces "may get dangerously close to each other," Bild points out.
"What is happening in the Baltic Sea threatens to lead to further escalation," Moritz Brake, senior fellow at the Center for Advanced Security, Strategic and Integration Studies (CASSIS) warned, adding that "provocations are possible."
Johannes Peters, head of the Center for Maritime Strategy and Security at the Institute for Security Policy at Kiel University, believes that Russia "will take advantage of the drills to carry out reconnaissance and spy on the opposing party." "Russia is sending its own units to the region for that purpose, which, however, is legitimate," he added. According to the expert, Russia is demonstrating "its strength and ability to act."
Russia’s Baltic Fleet announced on May 27 that the fleet had begun exercises to practice ways to protect bases, in cooperation with the Northern Fleet’s forces and with support from the Aerospace Forces, the Moscow and Leningrad military districts.