A ceasefire in Ukraine would allow Moscow to deploy more troops near the Baltic states, defence ministers from Estonia and Lithuania told the Financial Times newspaper.
Estonia’s defence minister, Hanno Pevkur, said Russia would redistribute its forces very quickly, which “also means that the threat level will increase significantly very quickly”.
His Lithuanian counterpart, Dovilė Šakalienė, made similar remarks last week - “Let’s not have any illusions. Let’s not lie to ourselves that Russia is going to be done after Ukraine.”
“Russia will use this time following a ceasefire to speed up its military capabilities. They already have a huge, battlefield-trained army, which is going to get even bigger,” she said.
According to the FT, “a halt in fighting would give Russia a chance to fulfil its 2022 plans to raise a 1.5mn strong army and add an entire new army corps in the north, doubling the number of troops near Finland and the Baltics”.
Pevkur said around half of Russia’s 600,000 troops believed to be in Ukraine would be redeployed following any ceasefire deal.
“These men will not go back to different parts of Russia to harvest the corn or do something else,” the minister said.
According to FT, the Baltic countries are worried about the upcoming Russian military drills in the autumn, which simulate a conflict with NATO.
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