Dreaming Doesn't Harm: Zakharova

The official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, commented on the words of Polish President Andrzej Duda regarding the Baltic Sea, stating that "dreaming doesn't harm." Earlier, President Duda had claimed that with Finland and Sweden joining NATO, the Baltic Sea becomes an internal basin of the alliance.

“As the classics used to say, dreaming doesn’t harm,” Zakharova said during a press briefing. She clarified that the Baltic Sea is surrounded not only by NATO member countries but also by Russian territories. “By definition, it cannot be considered internal for the alliance. The accession of Finland and Sweden to the North Atlantic alliance does not affect this fact, no matter how much they desire it in Poland or elsewhere,” emphasized the Russian Foreign Ministry's spokesperson.

Speaking about Helsinki and Stockholm's membership in NATO, Zakharova noted that Moscow's response to this event would depend on the nature and degree of the threats to Russia's security arising from it. “Necessary counterbalancing military-technical measures will be taken if needed, including in the so-called 'internal sea' waters,” said the representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry.