The Russian authorities decided to expand the country’s territorial waters in the Baltic Sea along with the border with Lithuania and Finland.

The Moscow Times reported that this follows from a draft resolution of the Russian government.

According to the document prepared by the Ministry of Defense, Russia intends to declare part of the water area in the east of the Gulf of Finland, as well as near the cities of Baltiysk and Zelenegradsk in the Kaliningrad Region, as its inland sea waters.

To do this, the geographical coordinates of the points that determine the position of the baselines from which the width of the territorial sea of the Russian Federation, as well as the adjacent zone off the coast and islands, will be changed.

On the border with Finland, the Russian Federation intends to adjust the coordinates in the area of the islands of Jähi, Sommers, Holland, Rodscher, Maly Tüters, and Vygrund, as well as near the northern entrance cape of the Narva River, according to an appendix to the Cabinet of Ministers’ resolution.

On the border with Lithuania, the area of the Curonian Spit, Cape Taran, the Cape south of Cape Taran, and the Baltic Spit are under review.

The current geographical coordinates established by the Council of Ministers of the USSR of 1985 “do not fully represent the modern geographical situation,” the project’s authors claim.

The locations were recorded “according to small-scale nautical maps” based on mid-20th century works, which “does not allow to determine the external border of the internal sea waters” of the Russian Federation, the document says.

The Ministry of Defense proposes to partially “recognize as invalid” the decree of the USSR Council of Ministers of 40 years ago, which regulates the borders in the Baltic.

The document on the border revision, which the Finnish and Lithuanian Foreign Ministries have not yet officially commented on, was presented for public discussion almost simultaneously with the start of the tactical nuclear weapons exercise.

Eye on Gotland

At the same time, Micael Bydén, Commander-in-Chief of the Swedish Armed Forces, believes that Vladimir Putin, Kremlin’s owner, laid “both eyes” on the island of Gotland to control the Baltic Sea.

“Yes, I am sure that Putin even laid both eyes on Gotland. Putin’s goal is to gain control of the Baltic Sea. He probably also had his eye on Åland. The Russians are closely monitoring what is happening at the entrances and exits to the Baltic Sea,” Micael Bydén said.

He noted that whoever controls the Swedish island of Gotland controls the Baltic Sea. According to him, Putin wants to gain control of Gotland.

The commander-in-chief stressed that if Russia takes control and blocks the Baltic Sea, it will have a huge impact on life in Sweden and all other Baltic Sea countries.

“We can’t let that happen. The Baltic Sea should not become Putin’s playground, where it can intimidate NATO members,” he said.

In early May, the Commander of the Estonian Armed Forces proposed to prepare for a possible blockade of the Baltic Sea.