• 2 days ago
Fact check: The Baltics aren't against a ceasefire in Ukraine

Claims that the Baltic states no longer support a ceasefire appear to stem from a misinterpretation of an article by the Financial Times.

READ MORE : http://www.euronews.com/2025/04/03/fact-check-the-baltics-arent-against-a-ceasefire-in-ukraine

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Transcript
00:00Are the Baltics against a ceasefire in Ukraine?
00:08Social media users are claiming that Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania have come out against
00:13a ceasefire in Russia's war in Ukraine, as talks to bring about a temporary halt stall.
00:18This post on X says that the countries are afraid that an undefeated Russian army will
00:22invade them once a ceasefire is reached in Ukraine.
00:26Another says that the Baltic states believe a ceasefire would give Moscow time to rearm
00:29and turn its attention to its borders with NATO.
00:32Others share images that appear to depict Russian forces advancing toward Estonia, Latvia
00:37and Lithuania.
00:38But the spirit of many of these posts ranges between being misleading and lacking nuance
00:43to being outright disingenuous.
00:45The origin of the distorted claims appears to be a report published by the Financial
00:49Times in late March, which said that Baltic defence ministers had warned that a ceasefire
00:54in Ukraine would dramatically increase the security threat to their countries.
00:59Lithuanian Defence Minister Hanno Pevka reportedly told the FT that when the war in Ukraine comes
01:03to an end, Russia will quickly redistribute its forces, rapidly increasing threat levels.
01:09His comments came after his Lithuanian counterpart, Dovile Å akiljene, made similar reports that
01:14Russia won't be done after Ukraine, and that Moscow would use the time after a ceasefire
01:19to speed up its military capabilities.
01:22So it's true that the Baltics are concerned about what a ceasefire in Ukraine would mean
01:25for them, but it's wrong to say that they're against a stop to the fighting.
01:30Spokespeople for Estonia and Latvia's foreign affairs ministries told us as much.
01:34They denied the social media claims, noting that their countries support efforts to achieve
01:39peace in Ukraine and that they continue to back Kiev.
01:42They said that Russia must stop attacking Ukraine's civilian and energy infrastructure
01:46and fulfil the ceasefire conditions, but that Moscow has so far shown no willingness to
01:51do so.

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