MOSCOW, October 24 (HS/RIA Novosti) - By adopting a declaration on security in the Baltic, the West is escalating tensions in the region, Vladislav Maslennikov, director of the Russian Foreign Ministry's Department of European Issues, told RIA Novosti.

Commenting on Poland’s decision to join the declaration on security in the Baltic Sea, North Atlantic, and Arctic, Maslennikov said that the image of a kind of collective naval capability, which the declaration addresses, is intended primarily to lend weight to illegitimate actions and ensure collective complicity.

In practical terms, the activity of such formats boils down exclusively to escalating tensions and creating obstacles to free navigation, which run counter to the basic principles of international law, Maslennikov said.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Indrani Sarkar