NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte said the alliance had answered a message from Moscow and urged Russia to stop its nuclear threat, after a Russian embassy warned against isolating Kaliningrad.
Russia’s Embassy in Ireland said Sept. 29 that Moscow would be ready to use “all its arsenal, including nuclear weapons” if NATO countries tried to isolate the exclave. The embassy also alleged that NATO was preparing an air and naval blockade, but its public post named no source for the claim. The blockade allegation is unverified.
In a Sept. 30 Euronews interview, Rutte said NATO’s reply described the alliance as defensive and called on Russia to “stop the nuclear threat.” He declined to disclose the message’s contents.
On transit, Lithuania’s Foreign Ministry said passenger travel and goods not covered by sanctions continued in June 2022. European Union guidance allowed rail transit under controls while barring sanctioned military and dual-use goods. Since July 1, 2025, Sweden’s Coast Guard has been able to request insurance details from vessels in the country’s territorial sea and exclusive economic zone. Vessels do not have to respond, and Swedish authorities generally should not interfere with innocent passage. The Coast Guard says the information supports Sweden’s civil maritime situational awareness and safety and environmental protection at sea.
Reuters reported that a Russian diplomatic note it had seen described a direct military clash with NATO as a serious risk and warned of possible Russian strikes on decision-making sites in alliance countries. Rutte did not confirm the note’s wording.
Poland’s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski proposed more aggressive NATO exercises near Kaliningrad at a Sept. 11 panel in Kyiv, Defense News reported. The outlet said Sikorski’s aim was to make Russia divert forces from Ukraine. Poland’s Foreign Ministry confirmed that he took part in the Yalta European Strategy conference but did not mention the proposal in its account.
