Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov told state news agency TASS recently that, to achieve peace, NATO must “withdraw” from the Baltic states.

Russian officials have made plenty of threats over the years. If it is more than just rhetoric, and we take the comment at face value, it would indicate that Russia may indeed be plotting aggression against Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania in the not-too-distant future.

According to Newsweek on June 9, “Ryabkov’s comments “suggested that the conflict’s roots lie not only in Ukraine itself but in NATO’s eastward expansion. According to Ryabkov, the withdrawal of NATO forces from Eastern Europe would help bring an end to the war.

Balderdash.

Lithuania’s former Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis took to Twitter on June 10 to take apart these remarks. Before its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, he writes, “Russia issued a list of demands to Ukraine and the West. Its central demand to NATO: a rollback to the Alliance’s 1997 borders – effectively requiring the withdrawal of NATO forces and infrastructure from all countries that joined after that year.”

Furthermore, as Landsbergis states, “Russia’s actions—and its own public declarations—show this conflict is not just about Ukraine. It is a broader imperial project aimed at resurrecting Russia’s sphere of influence and undermining the West. Moscow has said this explicitly and repeatedly – yet the West still acts surprised. And whenever the West gives ground – Russia just takes it and asks for more, calling it “justified grievances.” And it will just continue like that until Russia is stopped.”

Landsbergis continues, “The only viable strategy toward Russia is one of deterrence and defense, not appeasement based on obsolete agreements. Germany’s intelligence chief has again warned that Russia may soon test NATO’s resolve, with some little green men. That warning must be followed not with business as usual or slow deliberation, but with fast and decisive action that strengthens deterrence, not five or ten years from now, but immediately. We should not dismiss the Russian rhetoric. There is a vein of truth and many clues in the disinformation and misinformation that Moscow spews out.”

Does Washington take this seriously?

The realization that what Russia says is not all bluster was echoed during a June 11 Senate Defense Appropriations Subcommittee hearing with Joint Chiefs of Staff Chair Gen. Dan “Razin” Caine, who told the panel that he does not believe that Vladimir Putin will stop at Ukraine if he succeeds in overtaking that country. This, as The Hill reported, was in “marked contrast” to Donald Trump’s “typical ambiguity on the question.” 

U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth was asked the same question by Subcommittee member Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina) about whether Putin would “stop at Ukraine.” Hegseth replied that it “Remains to be seen.” Senator Graham replied that, “It doesn’t remain to be seen. [Putin] tells everybody around what he wants to do.”

Suppose we do take Russia’s threats and actions seriously. In that case, we, as American citizens, need to be serious and act to support the Baltic countries by continuing to support Ukraine to the hilt. We can make this clear to the U.S. Congress and the executive branch by reaching out to them and letting them know.

Following its targeted Baltic advocacy in April and May, the Joint Baltic American National Committee is pitching in and helping our Ukrainian friends and colleagues during the Ukrainian Days advocacy event in the U.S. Congress from June 11-12.

We are urging Congress to provide higher levels of assistance for Ukraine in the FY26 appropriations and defense authorization bills. We are also asking for support of legislation to call for the return of abducted Ukrainian children before finalizing any peace agreement to end the war against Ukraine (S.Res.236, introduced by Senate Baltic Freedom Caucus co-chairman Chuck Grassley). S.1749, introduced by other Baltic Caucus co-chairman Richard Durbin, would prohibit U.S. recognition of Russia’s claim of sovereignty over Crimea.

We are asking to restore funding for the Voice of America. VOA is a strategic investment in American soft power and values, and it must not disappear.  

One of the hottest topics is urging support for the Sanctioning Russia Act of 2025 in the U.S. Senate (S.1241) and House H.R.2548. The bill would “impose sanctions and other measures with respect to the Russian Federation if the Government of the Russian Federation refuses to negotiate a peace agreement with Ukraine, violates any such agreement, or initiates another military invasion of Ukraine.”

The bill was introduced by Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Pennsylvania) and has 69 co-sponsors as of June 10, with numbers rapidly growing. The Senate version of the bill, S.1241, introduced by Senator Graham, was also introduced on April 1 and has an incredible 83 co-sponsors, marking a large bipartisan consensus. Yet, the Trump administration balks at supporting any punitive measures against Russia over its continued concern that it might upset the balance of any Russia-Ukraine peace treaty that the U.S. is brokering.

That is a cop out, and it is all to Putin’s advantage if the U.S. is not able to effectively pressure Russia, in coordination with its European allies, to stop its war and pull back. Giving Russia enough rope to keep murdering Ukrainians will be the downfall of us all. 

As the Ukrainian advocates in Washington, DC have made clear this week, a victory for Ukraine is a victory for the United States. It is also a victory for Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania.

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Author: Karl Altau, Joint Baltic American National Committee, Managing Director

(This article was first published on June 19, 2025 in the newspaper Vaba Eesti Sõna (Free Estonian Word)