The latest US diplomatic cables released by Wikileaks have shown NATO drew up plans to defend the Baltic states against the Russians.
According to the cables, the existing defence plan, which supposedly only covered Poland, was extended to include Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.
The leak shows the small countries lobbied for protection but were urged by the US to keep quiet for fear of upsetting Russia.
The move to defend the former Soviet republics came after relations had improved between the US and Russia.
The sensitive matter was hurried through after the Russia-Georgia war of 2008, when emotions and fears over Russian aggression were stirred up in the Baltic area.
According to one of the dispatches from the American embassy in Riga, Latvia, ethnic Latvians had become scared after the Georgia incident, thinking “this could easily be them.”
NATO’s top commander in Europe was purportedly responsible for drawing up the defence plans for Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia, according to the leaked correspondence.
