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A former Estonian president said that the CIA director's trip to Moscow was almost certainly about Iran rather than a warning over the Baltics, and that the region's threat picture has not changed.

It comes as US officials describe Patriot missile stocks in Europe as beyond critical, and as Donald Trump signs an order renaming Lake Ontario.

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Major Story

🇺🇸🇷🇺 Ex-Estonian leader says CIA trip was about Iran

Former Estonian president Toomas Hendrik Ilves told Euronews he has "severe doubts" that concern over the Baltic states was the reason CIA director John Ratcliffe went to Moscow this week.

"What is the real problem for the United States right now? The real problem is Iran, the fact that the Russians are giving targeting information to the Iranians," he said, arguing that alone would warrant the trip.

Ilves said there had been "no change in the US's threat assessment for the Baltic states", and that if the purpose had genuinely been to warn Moscow off the region, "there would be some kind of activity here", a reading Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna echoed when he said the country's assessment had not changed.

Asked about warnings that Russia could escalate against Estonia, Latvia or Lithuania, Ilves called it "all spin", asking why Moscow would risk a war with NATO while stalemated in Ukraine, and noting that Finland, Sweden, Denmark and Poland would be drawn in.

He expected Ratcliffe to have delivered a threat rather than a plea, saying "I'm sure the message was something à la, if you keep doing that, we will do X", while doubting Washington had much to trade over Ukraine because "they don't have the cards".

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1️⃣ 🇪🇺🇷🇺 Four EU states reopen the frozen assets fight: The Netherlands, Poland, Spain and Sweden wrote to EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas saying "now is the time to revert to the issue" of using Russia's immobilised assets, after leaders failed in December to agree a plan leveraging €210bn held mostly at Euroclear. Belgium blocked that plan while demanding unlimited guarantees, and Zelenskyy said on Saturday he faces a €23bn defence funding hole.

2️⃣ 🇷🇺 Car bomb kills a Russian officer in St Petersburg: The city's Investigative Committee said a serviceman was killed and his wife injured when their car exploded in the Pushkinsky suburb, opening a criminal case but initially labelling it a vehicle fire rather than confirming a device. The Fontanka newspaper identified him as a 53-year-old lieutenant colonel, no group has claimed responsibility and Ukraine has not commented.

3️⃣ 🇮🇷🇺🇸 Iran sets its price for reopening Hormuz: Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi wrote that "putting diplomacy back on track isn't impossible" but that it hinges on Washington understanding that "pressure doesn't work", while security council secretary Mohsen Rezaei told Al Manar any Hormuz understanding must include an end to wars in Lebanon, Gaza and Syria. CENTCOM said US forces had cleared the strait's mines, though Kpler counted five crossings on Tuesday.

4️⃣ 🇮🇱🇬🇧 Israel weighs expelling British officials from Gaza centre: The Financial Times reported that Israel has in recent weeks discussed removing the UK, and possibly other European officials, from the International Gaza Support Center, the multinational headquarters established to monitor the US-brokered ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.

5️⃣ 🇪🇸🇲🇦 Protesters burn a migrant camp in Ceuta: About 70 people attacked a military vehicle with stones earlier in the day, a police spokesman in Ceuta told AFP, and protesters later threw objects into a fire on the beach while trying to stop Red Cross vehicles reaching migrants. Madrid puts the number still in the enclave below 7,000 while Ceuta officials say at least 10,000, in a territory of about 84,000 people.

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