MOSCOW, October 29. /TASS/. Moscow is ready to respond to any challenge in the Baltic Sea but does not want tensions to rise there, Russian President Vladimir Putin said at a press conference following the Russia-Africa summit.

He said Baltic security had come up during telephone talks with Finnish President Alexander Stubb and Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store. Russia does not want a situation similar to that in the Strait of Hormuz and the Persian Gulf to develop in the Baltic Sea, Putin added.

"We do not want that. But we will respond to any challenge," he noted.