Putin's next targets: Moldova, Caucasus, and Central Asia, warns Latvian president
10:09 AM EDT, June 1, 2024
If Russia feels that it has won in Ukraine, it will be tempted to continue. But if it feels defeated, it will seek revenge, believes Latvian President Edgars Rinkēvičs, quoted by Fakt. The Latvian president also revealed Vladimir Putin's plans, pointing out the countries that could be attacked right after a potential victory in Ukraine. And these are not the Baltic states.
Russia is conducting a bandit attack on Ukraine. The war has been going on for over two years. Putin and his associates have repeatedly threatened an eventual attack on nearby Baltic countries.
Read more: Vladimir Putin is threatening Europe. "They should understand what they are playing with"
Edgars Rinkēvičs shared his opinion at the British Royal United Services Institute (RUSI), an advisory group focused on security and defense in London.
Russia is testing our borders, conducting sabotage attacks. Our security services work around the clock. There have been many arrests. Saboteurs are recruited on social media, and deep fakes interfere with election campaigns, quotes Fakt the Latvian President
Which country will Russia attack next?
According to Edgars Rinkēvičs, Russia will start rebuilding the empire by attacking Moldova, Caucasus countries, and Central Asia. According to the Latvian president, Russia may loot in Georgia, Armenia, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan.
As Fakt reports, in these countries, the ties with Russia are strong, but it is also there that the Kremlin has its military bases. In Armenia, Putin's army maintains an airbase (about 3,000 to 5,000 soldiers), and in Kazakhstan, the Baikonur Cosmodrome. Russia still occupies parts of Georgia (Abkhazia and South Ossetia) and Moldova (Transnistria).
When asked if Latvia fears a Russian invasion, he answered, "We must be prepared for all kinds of scenarios," the president quotes in Fakt. Rinkēvičs disagreed with arguments that allowing Ukrainian troops to strike Russian territory with Western weapons would escalate NATO-Russia tensions. Russia always escalates, he explained.
