The three Baltic states have called for Nato to reinforce its presence on their territories as the alliance for the first time activated its rapid response force of thousands of troops to bolster its eastern flank.
Lithuania on Thursday announced a state of emergency in response to Russia’s assault of Ukraine that began in the early hours, while Latvia and Estonia convened urgent national security talks.
The Russian attack was launched not only from occupied eastern Ukraine but also Belarus, which neighbours Lithuania and Latvia, and where Russian president Vladimir Putin had stationed 30,000 troops. Putin spoke with Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko before the assault, according to Minsk.
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