Russia Blames Baltic Countries for the Severing of Most Ties

Russian military vehicles, including Yars intercontinental ballistic missile system units, drive along a road before a rehearsal for a parade, which marks the anniversary of the victory over Nazi Germany in World War Two, in Moscow, Russia, May 5, 2024. REUTERS/Shamil Zhumatov
Russian military vehicles, including Yars intercontinental ballistic missile system units, drive along a road before a rehearsal for a parade, which marks the anniversary of the victory over Nazi Germany in World War Two, in Moscow, Russia, May 5, 2024. REUTERS/Shamil Zhumatov
TT
20

Russia Blames Baltic Countries for the Severing of Most Ties

Russian military vehicles, including Yars intercontinental ballistic missile system units, drive along a road before a rehearsal for a parade, which marks the anniversary of the victory over Nazi Germany in World War Two, in Moscow, Russia, May 5, 2024. REUTERS/Shamil Zhumatov
Russian military vehicles, including Yars intercontinental ballistic missile system units, drive along a road before a rehearsal for a parade, which marks the anniversary of the victory over Nazi Germany in World War Two, in Moscow, Russia, May 5, 2024. REUTERS/Shamil Zhumatov

The "hostile line" of the Baltic countries have led to the severance of most of their ties with Russia, the Russian foreign ministry said in remarks published on Sunday, warning also that Moscow will respond with asymmetric measures.
"Because of the openly hostile line of Vilnius, Riga and Tallinn, all interstate, interdepartmental, regional and sectoral ties with Russia have been severed," Maria Zakharova, the spokeswoman of the Russian foreign ministry told the RIA state news agency, referring to the capitals of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia.
According to Reuters, she added that Moscow will continue to use diplomatic measures of influence on the Baltic countries.
Estonia last week accused Russia of violating international airspace regulations by interfering with GPS signals and the Baltic countries are among those that are "deeply concerned" about activities they called Russian espionage, NATO said last week.
Zakharova, without specifying what steps taken by the Baltic countries she was referring to, told RIA that Moscow will respond to the hostile actions by Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia, with asymmetric measures.
"We will also respond to the hostile actions of the Baltic states with asymmetrical measures, primarily in the economic and transit spheres," she said.
Russian police in February put Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas, Lithuania's culture minister and members of the previous Latvian parliament on a wanted list for destroying Soviet-era monuments.



Tsunami Warning after 2 Large Quakes off Russia's Pacific Coast

A handout shakemap made available by the United States Geological Survey (USGS) shows the location of a 7.4-magnitude earthquake hitting off Kamchatka, Russia, 20 July 2025. EPA/USGS HANDOUT
A handout shakemap made available by the United States Geological Survey (USGS) shows the location of a 7.4-magnitude earthquake hitting off Kamchatka, Russia, 20 July 2025. EPA/USGS HANDOUT
TT
20

Tsunami Warning after 2 Large Quakes off Russia's Pacific Coast

A handout shakemap made available by the United States Geological Survey (USGS) shows the location of a 7.4-magnitude earthquake hitting off Kamchatka, Russia, 20 July 2025. EPA/USGS HANDOUT
A handout shakemap made available by the United States Geological Survey (USGS) shows the location of a 7.4-magnitude earthquake hitting off Kamchatka, Russia, 20 July 2025. EPA/USGS HANDOUT

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center has issued a warning for Russia's Kamchatka Peninsula after two quakes — the larger with a magnitude of 7.4 — struck in the sea nearby on Sunday.

The larger quake was at a depth of 20 kilometers (12 miles) and was 144 kilometers (89 miles) east of the city of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, which has a population of 180,000, according to the US Geological Survey.

A few minutes earlier, a quake with a magnitude of 6.7 was recorded nearby, reported The Associated Press.

The German Research Center for Geosciences (GFZ) indicated twin earthquakes of over 6.5 magnitude struck near the coast of Kamchatka, in Russia's far east, early on Sunday. It measured the quakes at 6.6 and 6.7 and the depth of both at 10 kilometers (6 miles).

Measurements of earthquakes often vary in the first hours after they occur.

There were no immediate reports of casualties.

On Nov. 4, 1952, a magnitude 9.0 quake in Kamchatka caused damage but no reported deaths despite setting off 9.1-meter (30-foot) waves in Hawaii.