Russia raises concerns over EU attempts to recover WWII chemical weapons dumped in Baltic Sea

A senior Russian official has voiced concern over the European Union's attempts to recover World War II chemical weapons dumped in the Baltic Sea.

"We mark with concern the recently increased activity of a number of Western countries, the EU, and organisations controlled by them, in raising chemical weapons and munition dumped in the Baltic Sea during World War II," Sergey Belyaev, director of the 2nd European Department of the Russian Foreign Ministry, told Russian state news agency RIA on Friday.

Belyaev emphasised that prior to taking such steps, discussions must take place on relevant international platforms, primarily the Baltic Marine Environment Protection Commission (Helsinki Commission, HELCOM), environmental risks must be assessed, and the position of countries in the anti-Hitler coalition, including Russia, must be taken into account.

"Uncoordinated separate actions, attempts to bring non-core structures like the Council of the Baltic Sea States or NATO to this topic are not only counterproductive but can lead to very deplorable consequences for the entire Baltic," the official warned.

Following the end of the war in 1945, several tens of thousands of tonnes of chemical munitions were drowned in the Baltic Sea, with the largest arsenal being dumped in the vicinity of the islands of Gotland and Bornholm.

The Western media reported that German authorities intend to launch a programme to recover ammunition from the ocean.