MOSCOW, January 25. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin’s trip to the country’s westernmost region of Kaliningrad is not some kind of message to NATO countries, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.

On Thursday, Putin arrived in Kaliningrad where he will meet with students at the Immanuel Kant Baltic Federal University as Russia celebrates Students Day on January 25. Besides, the president is also set to chair a meeting on the region’s social and economic development and meet with regional Governor Anton Alikhanov.

"When the president visits Russian regions, he certainly is not trying to send any messages to NATO countries. This is the main focus of the president’s work. He has been doing it for years, working on making our country and its regions better," Peskov stressed.

He noted that Russia had not asked Lithuania for a direct air corridor to the Kaliningrad Region. In response to a TASS question about whether additional security measures had been taken for Putin’s flight to Kaliningrad, the Kremlin spokesman said: "Special security measures are [taken] wherever the head of state is concerned." "Of course, [security] measures were taken this time, too. Every effort was made to ensure the safety of the head of state," Peskov assured.

The Kaliningrad Region is separated from the rest of Russia by European Union countries. After Russian President Vladimir Putin announced the special military operation in Ukraine in response to a request from the heads of the Donbass republics on February 24, 2022, EU nations, including Poland, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, closed their airspace to Russian aircraft. Now, air routes to the region pass above the neutral waters of the Baltic Sea.