Latest news with #AndriusSytas
Hindustan Times
20 hours ago
- Business
- Hindustan Times
Latvian president believes NATO will overcome obstacles, meet 5% goal
By Andrius Sytas Latvian president believes NATO will overcome obstacles, meet 5% goal RIGA, - Latvia's president expressed confidence NATO would agree to a new higher defence spending target demanded by U.S. President Donald Trump, despite Spanish objections, saying the alliance had little choice given the growing threat from Russia. Spain on Thursday asked to opt out of the plan to increase members' defence spending to 5% of their gross domestic product, as requested by Trump, a move which could derail next week's NATO summit at the Hague. Any agreement to raise defence spending needs unanimous approval by the 32 member states. Latvian President Edgars Rinkevics told Reuters on Friday he understood why countries further from Russia might have difficulties convincing their voters to spend more on defence. But he said the need was pressing. 'I do hope there is the understanding in Madrid that this is a critical time for the Alliance, both when it comes to its defence capabilities, but also to the Trans-Atlantic relationship,' he said in an interview in Riga. 'I think that they don't have much of a choice,' he added. At an estimated 1.28% of GDP, Spain had the lowest proportion of expenditure on defence in the alliance last year, according to NATO estimates. Latvia and fellow Baltic states Lithuania and Estonia are urgently ramping up their militaries, fearing that their neighbour and former overlord Russia could push on from its 2022 invasion of Ukraine to take more territory. They spent more than 3% of GDP on defence this year, and have committed to top 5% for the next few years. "We are saying that we need to spend as soon as possible now in order to avoid a worst-case scenario, spending much more later," Rinkevics said. "While Russia is stuck in Ukraine, that possibility of a direct military attack is not very high," he said. "But it may change very, very quickly ... if a development in Ukraine leads Russian leadership to believe that NATO is weak, that Ukraine is defeated, that NATO is divided". This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.
Yahoo
04-06-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Estonian parliament votes to withdraw from landmines treaty
By Andrius Sytas VILNIUS (Reuters) -The Estonian parliament on Wednesday voted in favour of withdrawing from the Ottawa Convention that bans the use of anti-personnel landmines amid concerns over the military threat posed by neighbouring Russia. Eighty-one members of the 101 parliament supported the motion, its press office said. All five European Union and NATO countries which border Russia – Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Poland and Finland - have said they plan to exit the international treaty due to the military threat from their much larger neighbour. Russia is not a member of the Ottawa Convention and has used landmines in its invasion of Ukraine. The Estonian vote follows those in Latvia and Lithuania, where parliaments have already approved the withdrawal. The countries would be able to stockpile and lay landmines six months after informing other treaty members and the United Nations of their decision. None of the five countries have done so yet. Nobel Peace Prize laureate Jody Williams, who was awarded the distinction in 1997 in recognition of her work for the banning and clearing of anti-personnel mines, has criticised the decisions of Russia's neighbours. "Landmines don't influence the outcome of a war... All you get is a mess afterwards that threatens your own population," she told the Guardian newspaper in April.
Yahoo
02-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
NATO east flank backs Ukraine membership, Poland, Romania and Lithuania say
By Andrius Sytas VILNIUS (Reuters) -Nordic, Baltic and central European NATO members are committed to Ukrainian membership of the military alliance, the leaders of Poland, Romania and Lithuania said following a summit of the so-called B9 and Nordic countries on Monday. NATO allies declared their support for Ukraine's "irreversible path" towards membership at last year's Washington summit. But President Donald Trump has since said that prior U.S. support for Ukraine's NATO bid was a cause of the war and has further indicated that Ukraine will not get membership. Russian President Vladimir Putin's conditions for ending the war in Ukraine include a demand that Western leaders pledge in writing to stop enlarging NATO eastwards, and lift a chunk of sanctions on Russia, Reuters reported last week. Poland, Romania and Lithuania said on Monday, after a meeting of Nordic, Baltic and Eastern European leaders in the capital of Lithuania, that the region remains committed to the path towards Ukrainian NATO membership, and called for further pressure on Russia, including more sanctions. "We stand firm on Allied decision and commitment regarding Ukraine's irreversible path to full Euro-Atlantic integration, including NATO membership. Ukraine has the right to choose its own security arrangements and to decide its own future, free from outside interference," they said in a joint statement released on behalf of all meeting participants. The meeting, held ahead of a NATO summit at The Hague later this month, included Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Slovakia, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden.
Yahoo
18-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Estonian PM vows to keep up checks on Russia's 'shadow fleet'
By Andrius Sytas TALLINN (Reuters) -Estonia will keep checking Russian "shadow fleet" vessels, Prime Minister Kristen Michal told Reuters on Sunday, days after Russia deployed a SU-35 fighter jet as Estonia attempted to alter the course of one such ship. Estonia said the jet briefly breached NATO airspace during the Baltic country's attempt to inspect a Russian-bound oil tanker, thought to be part of a so-called shadow fleet defying Western sanctions on Moscow over its invasion of Ukraine. Last week's incident "doesn't change a thing", with Estonia determined to continue checking suspicious tankers, Michal said. "I would say that everybody - Estonians, Finns - will be monitoring these kind of ships, and if there's something suspicious we will ask about it. Everybody will do that," Michal said in an interview. Michal said the Estonian Navy had no plans to board the suspect tanker, which then sailed into Russian waters, escorted by the Su-35 and an Estonian patrol boat. Estonia detained another shadow fleet tanker, Kiwala, in April. Russia receives an estimated 60% of its oil revenues via shipments by the "shadow fleet" to buyers in countries such as China and India, according to Estonian estimates. The vessels, which frequently have opaque ownership structures and sail without top-tier Western insurance and safety certification, are often loaded in Russian Baltic Sea ports, approached via the waters between Estonia and Finland. "It's understandable why Russia is getting a little bit nervous," said Michal, saying Russian oil imports should be further limited. "The questions for us - not Estonia, but for Europe and for the United States - is how come Russia is waging the war for the fourth year, and is still selling products on the world market?," he said. Russia views sanctions as an attempt to crush its economy, and has said its ships must have free passage in the Baltic. DEFENCE SPENDING BOOST Estonia, one of the most outspoken critics of Russia in NATO and the European Union, was annexed in the 1940s by the Soviet Union, which agreed with Nazi Germany to carve up the region. For Michal, the only way for Europe to hope for a lasting peace with Russia is to have a strong military. Estonia has pledged at least 5% of GDP for defence to build up its forces, and hopes the larger NATO members will follow suit at a summit in The Hague next month. "Nobody loves governments who raise taxes for defence, but ... you have to do that", Michal said, adding that he hoped U.S. President Donald Trump would raise the threat of new sanctions during a planned call with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday. "I hope that he will continue this line, that the pressure is mounting," he said.
Yahoo
18-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Estonia says Russia detained a tanker in Baltic Sea
By Andrius Sytas TALLINN (Reuters) -Russia detained a Greek-owned oil tanker on Sunday after it left an Estonian Baltic Sea port, the Estonian Foreign Ministry said, adding that it had alerted NATO allies to the incident. The Liberia-flagged ship Green Admire was leaving Sillamae port using a designated navigation channel that crosses Russian territorial waters, the ministry said in a statement. "Today's incident shows that Russia continues to behave unpredictably," said Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna. "I have also informed our Allies of the event." The Green Admire had departed Sillamae port on Saturday 18:40 GMT, and on Sunday afternoon was anchored near Russia's Hogland island, according to Marine Traffic, a website that tracks vessels. The ship was bound for Rotterdam with a load of Estonia's shale oil, said the Estonian Transport Administration. The navigation channel out of Sillamae through Russian territorial waters has been set up under an agreement between Estonia, Finland and Russia to avoid shallows in the Estonian waters, the administration said. Vessels sailing into and out of the port will now be guided through Estonian territorial waters, it added. The Baltic has seen confrontations at sea over what NATO countries have described as Russian efforts to evade sanctions and sabotage undersea cables and pipelines. On Thursday, Estonia said Russia had sent a fighter jet into NATO airspace over the Baltic Sea after an attempt to stop a Russia-bound tanker thought to be part of a so-called 'shadow fleet' used by Moscow to evade sanctions.
