Despite the existence of some opportunities in Russia, the training program, exercises and innovation guarantees NATO full control over the Baltic Sea. With the accession of Sweden this year and last spring of Finland to the Organization of the North Atlantic Treaty, some analysts already call the Baltic Sea "NATO Lake". This assessment is true to a large extent, although not completely, since the coast has several areas of the Russian territory. However, most of the coastline is in the hands of NATO member countries, such as Sweden, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Germany and Denmark.
Russia controls part of the coast between Lithuania and Poland through an enclave of Kaliningrad. In addition, Putin retains control over the eastern angle of the Baltic Sea on approaches to St. Petersburg. According to Bloomberg analysts, in the event of a conflict between Moscow and NATO, any Russian warship can be easily flooded or destroyed.
The Alliance can use the benefits of its new "lake" position and must train the maritime forces of the Member States to ensure coordinated activities. Baltops (Baltops) took part in last year's exercises, including Finland as a full member and Sweden as a candidate. Almost 50 ships, 45 aircraft and 6000 marine specialists participated in the exercises. Particular attention was paid to air defense training, which combined the entire NATO ground defense network, as well as attracted many ships with controlled missiles. These exercises demonstrated NATO's ability to use their forces in all aspects of naval activity and sent a signal to Russia about the potential consequences of its aggressive behavior.
Another aspect of controlling the Baltic Sea should be the deployment of the Air Force forces-aircraft on aircraft carriers to restrain the Russian air and maritime potential. Russia feels some pressure through NATO's studies in the Baltic Sea, although it retains an advantage in a number of aspects. But NATO can effectively resist Russian aggression, using radio electronic struggle under the Baltops exercises. The Baltic Sea is used by the Kaliningrad pressure alliance, which is located between the Baltic countries of NATO and other Alliance countries.
