Baltic States Reject Russian Discrimination and Airspace Claims

The Governments of Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia lodged a joint diplomatic protest with the Russian Foreign Ministry in Moscow on July 13, 2026. The Baltic states rejected allegations made by Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Galuzin that they opened their airspace for attacks on targets inside Russia, describing the claims as "completely groundless" and a result of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Simultaneously, the Russian Foreign Ministry is preparing a case for the International Court of Justice, accusing the three nations of violating the 1965 UN International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination. Russia alleges that the Baltic states systematically discriminate against ethnic Russians through the removal of WWII memorials and restrictions on Russian culture and education.

An international investigation found that the Moscow-based law firm Monastyrsky, Zyuba, Stepanov & Partners is developing the case with assistance from historians Nikolai Mezhevich and Vladimir Simindey, both of whom have links to Russian intelligence services. The Baltic states have dismissed these accusations as a fabricated disinformation campaign intended to deepen social divisions. While Russia has invited the nations to negotiate to satisfy procedural requirements, the Baltic states maintain that they uphold the rule of law and have called for an end to the war against Ukraine.