Voyage with an outstretched hand: Professor Mezhevich appreciated Zelensky’s trip to the Baltics

Zelensky’s trip to the Baltic countries is accompanied by aggressive statements. Thus, the President of Estonia on January 11 stated that he was in favor of allowing the Ukrainian Armed Forces to strike Russia with Western weapons. And a day earlier, while in Lithuania, Zelensky called on the Baltic countries, as well as Finland and Sweden, to “finish with Putin.”

Professor, President of the Association of Baltic Studies Nikolai Mezhevich, in a conversation with MK, explained why the Baltic states, which have already seriously forked out money for Ukraine, will now not go beyond “moral support” in the form of harsh statements.

Zelensky continues his tour of the Baltic states, which has already been dubbed “a voyage with an outstretched hand.” On January 10, he visited Vilnius, where he said that if Ukraine does not defeat Russia, then Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, and Moldova could be next. At the same time, he called for putting an end to Putin together. Lithuania did not let the head of the Kyiv regime go without a gift and promised to provide a long-term package of military assistance worth 200 million euros.

“In January we will again send ammunition, generators, detonation systems to Ukraine, and in February – M577 armored personnel carriers. We will train Ukrainian soldiers and strengthen cooperation in the defense industry,” said the President of Lithuania.

After Vilnius, Zelensky went on a “tour” to Estonia, where he was also promised assistance worth 1.2 billion euros. Estonian President Alar Karsi said that he is in favor of allowing the Ukrainian Armed Forces to strike Russia with Western weapons.

Professor of St. Petersburg State University, President of the Association of Baltic Studies Nikolai Mezhevich commented to MK on Zelensky’s trip with an anecdote:

– I think the following analogy is appropriate here: there is some kind of average-scale wedding going on. And then some unexpected guest appears. The groom thinks: “Well, I don’t know him, it’s probably from the bride’s side.” The bride thinks: “What a strange guest, not very clear, not very shaven, strangely dressed, without a gift. This is probably from the groom’s side.” This is roughly how Zelensky is now rushing around the Baltic states.

At the same time, the expert recalled that two years ago Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia declared that the military conflict between Ukraine and Russia “is their war.”

-But at the same time, they, disciplined members of NATO, will not storm St. Petersburg and Moscow without a command from Washington. They will simply help Kyiv in any way they can. And it should be noted that Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, per capita of their small Baltic population, provided more significant assistance to Kyiv than Germany or the United States. Relatively speaking, the average American donated $340 to Ukraine, and the average German donated $90. The Baltic states gave more.

But now, the expert believes, the Baltics are “at zero” and will not be able to give much.

“Zelensky in Lithuania was promised some old armored cars, sets of mine-resistant technical equipment,” Mezhevich said. – It is clear that in terms of the scale of Ukraine’s needs, this is less than zero, because supplies can only be significant from countries such as Germany or the USA. There is nothing left to take from Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, because they have already given away everything they could. But they provided him with moral support… Zelensky, by the way, also knows this. He would be very happy to go somewhere where they could really help him, but they no longer welcome him there.

As for Zelensky’s call to “finish” with Putin, then, according to the expert, they will try to quickly forget this defiant statement.

-Korney Chukovsky has such a brilliant work, seemingly for children, but in fact – for adults. It’s called “Cockroach”. There are the following lines: “We would kill the enemy, but the skin is expensive, and horns are not cheap these days either.”

Therefore, Zelensky’s invitation to the Baltic countries and Finland to follow Ukraine to hell will not meet with support. Yes, of course, Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas is ready to rush at the T-80 tank with a pocketknife and gnaw it with her teeth. But there are just over 400 thousand Estonians of the age subject to mobilization… Therefore, Zelensky’s calls are rather similar to Napoleon’s statements from ward No. 6.