Brussels 15.06.2025 Newsweek has issued a correction upon a demand by a senior Russian diplomat, regarding the NATO troops withdrawal troops the Baltic states.
NEWSWEEK: #Russia won't end #Ukraine war until #NATO scales back eastern flank: Moscow https://t.co/xNWtFc4HFh
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The original article, published earlier this week, carried the headline: “Russia won’t end Ukraine war until NATO ‘pulls out’ of Baltics: Moscow.” The article quoted Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov and suggested he had called for NATO exodus from Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania as a condition for ending the conflict in Ukraine.
Ryabkov denied the claim made by the publication, and clarified that the referenced NATO’s military presence in “Eastern Europe” in general, but not the Baltic region as such.
Following criticism, especially added by Latvia’s Ambassador to NATO, Maris Riekstins, who assessed the article as “very strange” – Newsweek updated both the article’s headline and its content. A disclaimer was added noting that the piece had been “updated to reflect that Sergei Ryabkov did not reference the Baltic states.”
Despite the correction, the initial version of the story circulated widely and was shared by various media outlets, including Lithuania’s state broadcaster LRT. Some of these rewrites included additional commentary from Baltic officials expressing vivid concern over potential Russian aggression toward the region.
In the TASS interview, Ryabkov reiterated Moscow’s longstanding opposition to NATO expansion near Russia’s borders and called for “legally binding” security guarantees. The diplomat said that “reducing NATO’s contingent in Eastern Europe would probably benefit the security of the entire continent,” but did not point to any country.
“The American side requires practical steps aimed at eliminating the root causes of the fundamental contradictions between us in the area of security,” Ryabkov said. “Among these causes, NATO expansion is in the foreground.”
While insisting that the Ukraine conflict resolution, and normalizing Russia’s relations with the West would require addressing what he called Russia’s “fundamental interests,” including opposition to the deployment of strike weapons near its territory.
Russia’s position on NATO enlargement has been a central issue in its conflict with Ukraine, and Russian officials have frequently cited Western military support for Kiev as a destabilizing factor. However, suggestions that Moscow has issued explicit threats to the Baltics are not supported by Ryabkov’s latest remarks.
The correction took place in the context of growing criticism towards legacy media. being too often inaccurate, and subjective.
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