A senior Russian official has said that Moscow will counter any moves by Western military alliance NATO to dominate the Baltic Sea. Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko told the Russian television channel Rossiya-24 on Friday that the Western alliance's decision to increase patrols around the Baltic was further proof of NATO's "desire to turn the Baltic Sea into a NATO lake.

NATO's Secretary-General Mark Rutte hailed newly inaugurated U.S. President Donald Trump's warning on Wednesday that Russia could expect more tariffs and sanctions if it did not end the war in Ukraine.

Aleksandr Gruško, the deputy head of Russian diplomacy, highlighted the "key element of potential agreements" regarding the war's end in Ukraine. Much of the information provided by Russian media or representatives of the authorities is part of propaganda.

Mark Rutte, the Secretary General of NATO, has called on the United States to maintain its military support for Ukraine. Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, he addressed the threats made by Donald Trump to cut military aid to Ukraine and his promise to withdraw the U.

Russia on Thursday rejected the idea of NATO countries sending peacekeeping troops to Ukraine in the event of a ceasefire in the war with Russia, saying such a move would threaten to cause an "uncontrollable escalation".

Russia "will strive to make this decision part of the Alliance's policy," the state-controlled news agency quotes the diplomat as saying. Grushko described it as "one of the key elements of a possible agreement" and a component "related to eliminating the root causes" of Russia's war against Ukraine.