Vladimir Putin compared the Russian invasion of Ukraine with the Great Northern War during the days of Tsar Peter I, also known as Peter the Great, talking about the recapture of Russian territory.
The Estonian Foreign Ministry has summoned Russia’s ambassador to Russia to comment on remarks made by Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday about the history of the Baltic state.
Among other things, the president of Russia referred in his speech to the conquest of the city of Narva in the 18th century. The Estonian Foreign Ministry on Friday described Putin’s comments as “absolutely unacceptable”.
Vladimir Putin compared the Russian invasion of Ukraine with the Great Northern War during the days of Tsar Peter I, also known as Peter the Great, talking about the recapture of Russian territory.
Peter the Great did not conquer the area around present-day St. Petersburg (from Sweden), but recaptured it, Putin said, adding that the same was true in the case of Narva, which is on the border with Russia.
With a population of about 60,000, Narva is the third largest city in Estonia, a country that is a member of the EU and NATO. Many of Estonia’s 1.3 million inhabitants are of Russian descent.
