Russia Warns NATO It Will Use Nuclear Weapons if the Alliance Tries to Cut Off Kaliningrad

Russia has formally warned NATO that it is prepared to use nuclear weapons if the alliance tries to isolate Kaliningrad, its Baltic Sea exclave wedged between Poland and Lithuania. The warning, delivered in a diplomatic note seen by Reuters and reported by The Moscow Times on Wednesday, is among the starkest Moscow has issued to the alliance in years.

According to the reporting, the note says Russia would use "the entire arsenal of forces and capabilities at its disposal, including nuclear weapons" to defend its territory if NATO attempts to cut the enclave off. It also refers to the possibility of "Russian strikes against decision-making centers in the alliance's member states right from the outset." The note accuses NATO of pursuing a "dangerous and reckless course" that carries "high risks of the outbreak of a direct armed conflict."

NATO rejected the claim. The alliance described itself as "a defensive alliance committed to countering threats to its members" and said "no NATO exercise or activity poses a threat to the territory of the Russian Federation." It called on Moscow to end its invasion of Ukraine and to stop what it called irresponsible nuclear rhetoric.

The note followed a run of public statements. Russian embassies in at least three European countries have issued messages over the past three days accusing NATO of raising tensions through military exercises and planning scenarios that involve Kaliningrad. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov described the messages as diplomatic reminders to what he called "hotheads in Europe." A senior European defense official told reporters the threat was serious and unprecedented since the Cold War, while other NATO representatives treated it as an attempt at intimidation.

Kaliningrad has long been one of the most sensitive points on the continent. The territory is separated from the rest of Russia by Lithuania, Poland and the Baltic Sea, and it hosts the Baltic Fleet and a large concentration of Russian military equipment. Because it sits inside NATO's eastern flank, any scenario that restricts land or sea access to it is something Moscow treats as an act of war, and something NATO planners study as a possible flashpoint.

The warning comes while the war in Ukraine continues and U.S.-Iran ceasefire talks are stalled, leaving Washington and its allies managing several crises at once. Moscow has repeatedly invoked its nuclear arsenal during the Ukraine war, but the explicit link to a named NATO scenario and to strikes on allied capitals sets this note apart from most earlier signaling. NATO's public response gave no indication that the alliance would change its exercises.