Putin urged to attack 3 European countries imminently - 'We must destroy them now'

3 days ago 7

Vladimir Solovyov

Putin crony Vladimir Solovyov says Russia wants victory, not peace (Image: Russia-1)

Russia should "destroy" three countries in Europe and secure victory instead of peace with Ukraine, a mouthpiece of Vladimir Putin has said. Russian state TV presenter, Vladimir Solovyov, demanded the destruction of the Baltic countries, which border Russia and have pledged to ramp up their defence spending.

In an unhinged rant on his show, Evening with Vladimir Solovyov, the anchor said the militarisation of the Baltic region is "happening fast", adding: "We should destroy it much sooner." The Baltic region includes Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. These three countries are part of the NATO military alliance and European Union. All three gained independence from the Soviet Union in the 1990s.

Military Exercise Hedgehog 25 in Estonia

Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania plan increases in defence spending (Image: Getty)

In April, Estonia announced it planned to boost defence spending to 5% of gross domestic product (GDP. Latvia said it would spend 4% of GDP on defence by 2026 while Lithuania committed in January to allocating 5%-6% of its GDP from 2026-2030.

It comes as tensions continue to ratchet up amid uncertainty over the war between Russia and Ukraine. Recent comments by senior officials from both countries indicate the two sides remain far apart on the key conditions for stopping the war.

Fierce fighting has in the meantime continued along the roughly 620-mile front line, with both sides having hit each other’s territory with deep strikes.

On Sunday, a Ukrainian drone attack destroyed more than 40 Russian planes deep inside Russia, according to Ukraine’s Security Service. Moscow, meanwhile, pounded Ukraine with missiles and drones.

In the Russian TV debate, Solovyov asked whether the three Baltic countries should be destroyed before they get the chance to militarise further.

He went on to suggest the former Soviet leadership should have been "knocked on their heads" so the USSR wouldn't have fallen apart and Russian troops wouldn't have been withdrawn from Eastern Europe.

In remarks translated from Russian into English by the YouTube channel, Russian Media Monitor, Solovyov suggested a former Soviet base in Finland should return.

He didn't name the base, but between 1944 and 1956 the Soviets operated the Porkkala Naval Base some 18 miles from the Finnish capital Helsinki.

His TV sparring partner, sociologist Evgeny Kopatko, said that wasn't part of current talks between Russia and "the big" West.

To which Solovyov replied: "Once you raze it to the ground there's a new agenda."

Kopatko shot back that the West will continue to arm Ukraine, but Solovyov reminded him that Kyiv wasn't invited to NATO's Parliamentary Assembly in the US.

Arguably, this wasn't surprising given Ukraine isn't a member of the military alliance. NATO Secretary General, Mark Rutte, underlined the alliance's long term support for Ukraine at the meeting last week.

Solovyov, who shouted down his sparring partner at times during the debate, argued Russia doesn't want peace with Ukraine, but only victory.

He said: "If Nazi regimes and the political elites that support them have to cease to exist for this to happen, then this is what will happen. We have no goal to preserve the Ukrainian political nation... We don't need peace. We need victory. Victory."

His reference to Nazism trumpets a baseless Putin line to justify the war which claims Kyiv is ruled by neo-Nazis.

The heated exchange came ahead of talks between Russia and Ukraine in Turkey where delegates agreed to work on a new prisoner swap and Kyiv demanded the return of deported children.

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