Kremlin vows to defend its Baltic Sea vessels by all means

This shows how dangerous the times we live in are, how serious the situation in the Baltic Sea is,

Kosiniak-Kamysz told a news conference

As recent events – related to an attempted seizure of one of our tankers – have shown, Russia has demonstrated its ability to respond decisively,

he added, commenting on recent incidents involving attempts to detain tankers in the Baltic Sea

By all means available to Russia. A fairly wide range of tools is available. Of course, within the framework of international law,

he said

After the effective intervention of our military, the ship sailed to one of the Russian ports,

he added

Probably what the Kremlin is trying to do is push back on that, so in the hope that NATO nations get spooked by what happened (last Tuesday),

said Arnold at RUSI

Margus Tsahknaestonian Foreign Minister

This is something very new,

Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna told reporters Thursday at a NATO meeting in Turkey

This seems to be a step-change in Kremlin thinking,

Ed Arnold, a senior research fellow at the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI), a UK-based think tank, told CNN