MOSCOW, August 16. /TASS/. Western countries are seeking to deprive Russia of access to the Baltic Sea and turn it into NATO’s ‘inland sea,’ said Nikolay Patrushev, the former secretary of the Security Council and aide to the Russian president in charge of national maritime policies.

"The West has been seeking to deprive Russia of access to the Baltic Sea, thus turning it into an ‘inland sea’ of the alliance. It is using NATO’s new members - Sweden and Finland - to achieve this goal," he said in an interview with the Izvestia daily.

Besides, Western countries "are actively implementing the strategy of constraining Russia in the Black Sea, where NATO members are preparing to boost their presence, in breach of the Montreux Convention," Patrushev continued.

"In order to boost its influence all across the World Ocean, the United States and its allies either ignore or try to review other international accords as well," the Kremlin official added.