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Estonia Foreign Ministry summons Russian ambassador over Putin’s comments on Narva

On June 9, the Russian President said that Peter I did not seize any Swedish territories during the Great Northern War but "got them back"

TALLIN, June 10. /TASS/. Estonia’s Foreign Ministry has summoned Russian Ambassador Vladimir Lipayev over President Vladimir Putin’s comments on Narva, the country’s eastern-most city on the border with Russia.

"Deputy Foreign Minister Rein Tammsaar, who met with the ambassador, expressed regret over President Putin’s comments, including the one on the Estonian city of Narva," the ministry said in a statement on Friday.

Putin said, while meeting with young entrepreneurs on Thursday, that Peter I did not seize any Swedish territories during the Great Northern War but "got them back."

When Peter the Great founded Russia’s new capital, European countries did not recognize Russia’s right to the area, where the city was built, Putin noted. "Everyone viewed it as part of Sweden, but Slavic people lived there from time immemorial along with the Finno-Ugric peoples, and the territory was controlled by the Russian state." According to Putin, the same was true of Narva.

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