Putin Fires Warning Shot at NATO Country

Russian President Vladimir Putin issued fresh threats to Latvia on Monday as tensions continue to rise between Moscow and NATO members.

Putin's statements, made during the Kremlin's Council for the Development of Civil Society and Human Rights, were directed at policies from Riga, the Latvia capital, regarding its Russian-language-speaking minority. Latvia is one of three NATO and European Union members that share a border with mainland Russia.

Latvia has previously faced backlash for enacting laws that U.N. experts say are discriminatory to minority ethnic groups in the country, including efforts to make Latvian the only language used inside school buildings by 2025. In May, Reuters reported that dozens of Russian citizens living in Latvia were ordered to take a basic Latvian language test to prove their "loyalty" to Riga's government in light of the war in Ukraine.

"I don't think that happiness will come to those who pursue such policies," Putin said during the presidential council meeting Monday, according to a report by RBC Ukraine, which cited a clip of the council's meeting shared to Telegram.

RBC Ukraine wrote that Putin was referring to policies in Latvia and other Baltic countries that the Kremlin claim are based on Russophobia, or anti-Russian sentiment. According to Riga's database, as of 2023, roughly 24 percent of the population of Latvia is part of the Russian minority.

"If they pursue such a policy towards people who wanted to live in that country, worked there, created some good for that country, and they treat them so swinishly, then, eventually, they themselves will face this swinish behavior within their country," Putin added during Monday's meeting.

Prior to launching his full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Putin had repeatedly claimed, without evidence, that Kyiv was persecuting ethnic Russians and Russian-speaking citizens.

In a statement to Newsweek Wednesday, the Latvian Foreign Ministry said that Putin's rhetoric was "nothing new."

"It is obvious that the intended primary audience for these absurd comments is the Russian domestic public," the statement continued. "We see this as yet another attempt to distract attention from Russia's blatant violation of international law— primarily, the crimes Russia is committing in Ukraine and, secondly, the ongoing domestic repressions in Russia."

"This rhetoric simply confirms that the Allies and countries around the World, whose best interest is rules-based international order, need to continue supporting Ukraine and stand in firm unity in protection of the principles of the UN Charter," the Latvian ministry added. "All of the countries having direct border and painful history with Russia, including Latvia, know how to stay vigilant and resilient against Russia's attempts to [pressure]."

Putin's statements also come as several eastern European countries grapple with a surge in asylum seekers traveling across border crossings with Russia. According to a report from Politico on Monday, Finland shut down all of its crossings with Russia last week, and the governments of Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia are considering similar measures.

NATO members, who have stood unequivocally with Kyiv in light of Moscow's aggression, have taken steps to fortify their borders with Russia in recent months over fears of Putin escalating the fighting outside of Ukraine's borders. NATO General Secretary Jens Stoltenberg also recently warned that a win for Putin in Ukraine could be "dangerous" for NATO members and other Western countries.

"The one thing we do know is that the more we support Ukraine, the faster this war will end," Stoltenberg said during an interview Sunday. "We must realize that a victory for President Putin would be a tragedy for Ukraine, but it would also be dangerous for us. It is in our own interest to make everything possible for Ukraine to win."

Update 12/6/2023 2:15 p.m. ET: This story has been updated with comment from the Latvian Foreign Ministry.