Baltic Sea nations react warily to ‘Russian proposal’ to revise maritime border

Finnish foreign minister Elina Valtonen attends a press conference near the Vaalimaa border checkpoint between Finland and Russia in Virolahti, Finland (Jussi Nukari/AP)

Leaders around the Baltic Sea have reacted warily to reports that Russia could revise the borders of its territorial waters in the region, with Lithuania’s foreign minister calling it an “obvious escalation” that must be met with an “appropriately firm response”.

In a draft proposal reported by some Russian media, Russia’s Defence Ministry suggests updating the coordinates used to measure the strip of territorial waters off its mainland coast and that of its islands in the Baltic Sea.