Rutte is engaging in verbal escalation, threatening Russia — legislator
Leonid Slutsky emphasized that Russia had repeatedly affirmed its non-aggressive stance toward European nations, criticizing NATO for allegedly exaggerating the so-called Russian threat to justify increased militarization and soaring defense budgets
MOSCOW, February 12. /TASS/. NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte has escalated his rhetoric, warning of a "crushing response" should Russia block the Suwalki Gap, according to Leonid Slutsky, Chairman of the State Duma Committee on International Affairs and leader of Russia's Liberal Democratic Party (LDPR). In an interview with TASS, Slutsky characterized Rutte’s remarks as a provocative move designed to stoke Russophobic hysteria.
"Rutte’s statements about a 'crushing response' are a deliberate provocation aimed at inflaming tensions," Slutsky asserted. "Such verbal escalation only heightens the risk of a broader global confrontation." He emphasized that Russia has repeatedly affirmed its non-aggressive stance toward European nations, criticizing NATO for allegedly exaggerating the so-called Russian threat to justify increased militarization and soaring defense budgets.
The Suwalki Gap, a critical 64-kilometer stretch along the Lithuanian-Polish border adjacent to Russia’s Kaliningrad and Belarus’s Grodno regions, holds strategic significance. Its closure could effectively isolate Lithuania from its Western NATO allies, underscoring the region’s geopolitical importance.