16 March 2019

Russia’s Next Land Grab Won’t Be in an Ex-Soviet State... It Will Be in Europe.

First he came for Georgia, then for Ukraine... 
Vladimir Putin’s next target is likely to be 
a non-NATO nation in the EU


Mikheil Saalkashvili @ Foreign Policy 
Not many observers would consider the world’s coldest shipping lane a geopolitical hotspot. But that may be about to change. 

Last week, reports emerged that a new Kremlin policy will require all international naval ships to give Russia 45 days’ notice before entering the Northern Sea Route, which connects the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans via the Arctic waters north of Siberia. 

Every vessel on the route, where Russia has invested heavily in sophisticated military infrastructure, will also be required to have a Russian maritime pilot on board

Ships found in violation of these restrictions may be forcibly halted, detained, or—in unspecified “extreme” circumstances—“eliminated.”...