The Russian fleet has not informed NATO about its manoeuvre with 40 ships and 25 combat aircraft in the Baltic Sea that kicked off on Monday.
"We have not been informed about the manoeuvre from the Russian side," the commander of the naval forces of the NATO rapid reaction force, Flotilla Admiral Thorsten Marx, told dpa on the frigate Mecklenburg-Vorpommern on Monday.
He stressed, however, that NATO was not surprised by this. "Of course, we have a very clear idea from which actions manoeuvre activities might be derived." Observations over the past weeks and months had indicated that the manoeuvre was taking place, he said.
The Russian military has begun a naval exercise in the Baltic Sea, involving 40 vessels, 25 fighter jets and over 3,500 soldiers, the press service of the Russian Baltic Fleet said on Monday.
"The manoeuvre will include training of maritime communications, defence tasks and fleet bases," the press release says. The naval exercise is scheduled to last until June 15.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who visited the German naval fleet near Rostock on Monday, said he does not expect the situation between NATO and Russia in the Baltic Sea to escalate as a result of large-scale manoeuvres taking place at the same time.
"I do not have this fear," Scholz said on Monday during a visit to the frigate Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. "It is being handled very responsibly on the part of our forces."
Addressing Russia, however, Scholz also said: "Of course, it is also a signal that we are sending with the manoeuvre, the exercise here - namely that we have the strength to organize alliance and national defence. And that is what is understood."
Since the beginning of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine more than 15 months ago, Moscow's forces have conducted naval exercises in the Baltic Sea several times to rehearse for a possible state of war in the area.
There have been repeated incidents between Russian and NATO aircraft in the Baltic Sea area recently. Both sides accuse each other of violating each other's airspace.
Besides the Baltic Fleet, Russia's Pacific Fleet also began a large-scale exercise on Monday.
According to the Pacific Fleet Press Service, as many as 60 ships, 35 fighter jets and helicopters, and more than 11,000 soldiers are taking part in the drills in the Sea of Japan and the Sea of Okhotsk on the other side of the country.
