Over the past weeks, Pentagon representatives have approached Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia with requests to speak more restrainedly about the threat from Russia. Washington believes that certain harsh statements by European politicians could negatively affect the security situation in the region.
Reuters reported this on October 30, citing four interlocutors familiar with the course of the closed negotiations.
According to the agency, American officials raised the issue during bilateral meetings with representatives of the Baltic states. Whether other European governments received similar recommendations is currently unknown.
A Pentagon spokesman neither confirmed nor denied the report, refusing to comment on the content of private negotiations between allies. The defense ministries of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia did not respond to Reuters' requests, and NATO declined to comment.
Similar requests from the US defense department have been made before. As early as October 5, Euronews reported that during an August visit to NATO headquarters, US Deputy Secretary of Defense for Policy Elbridge Colby called on representatives of the Baltic states to maintain a less confrontational tone regarding Russian aggression.
According to Euronews, the American side linked these recommendations to the resumption of diplomatic efforts to end the war in Ukraine. The outlet also reported that the Baltic countries were not invited to a separate format of US defense consultations with five European NATO members held in Poland.
One Baltic diplomat told Euronews at the time that the states of the region openly talk about the threats they observe. According to him, Moscow must be aware of the consequences of its hybrid operations. These comments were made before the current Reuters publication.
The position of the Baltic countries regarding Russian threats is also confirmed by their official statements. In particular, on September 30, Lithuania's Ministry of Foreign Affairs summoned a representative of the Russian embassy over sabotage against the Estonian defense company Milrem Robotics and Russian strikes on Ukraine.
The Lithuanian foreign ministry cited the findings of Estonian law enforcement, which established Russia's responsibility for the arson of the defense company's building in Tallinn. Vilnius emphasized that sabotage, cyberattacks and other hostile actions against allies pose a threat to the entire Euro-Atlantic community.
At the same time, NATO leadership earlier urged allies not to exaggerate the risk of a direct military clash with Russia.
During a joint press conference with Estonian Prime Minister Kristen Michal on October 14, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte stated that the Alliance sees no imminent threat of an attack on its territory. He also stressed NATO's readiness to defend every member state in case of aggression.
As early as September 30, Rutte called on allies to remain calm amid reports of Russian hybrid operations. He emphasized that the Alliance has the necessary response capabilities, and the main task remains strengthening defense and continuing assistance to Ukraine.
However, NATO does not deny the danger of Russian sabotage. On October 19, the Alliance reported on the results of an international symposium in Bucharest dedicated to countering Russian hybrid threats.
Participants of the meeting, including representatives of NATO, the European Union and Ukraine, discussed protecting critical infrastructure, primarily energy, from sabotage, drone attacks and cyberattacks. The Alliance stressed that such Russian actions must not weaken support for Ukraine.
The current reports about the Pentagon's requests appear amid new US diplomatic efforts to end the Russian-Ukrainian war. At the same time, no official NATO decisions on changing the assessment of the Russian threat or revising commitments to the Baltic countries in connection with these consultations have been announced.
