Baltic States Disconnect from Russian Power Grid and Join EU Network; Ukrainian President: Russia Loses Energy Weapon | WPN World People News

The Baltic States of Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia officially disconnected from the Russian energy system on the 9th and fully integrated into the European Union (EU) power grid, marking a significant milestone in the region’s energy independence. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky emphasized that this means "Moscow can no longer use energy as a weapon against the Baltic countries."

To celebrate this historic moment, the presidents of Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, and Poland gathered at the Lithuanian Presidential Palace today and held a joint press conference with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, highlighting the importance of this move for regional energy security.

According to reports from AFP and Reuters, as former Soviet republics, the three Baltic nations are now members of both the EU and NATO and have long sought to end their reliance on the Russian power grid. Since Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022, this process has accelerated significantly to strengthen energy integration with the EU and ensure regional energy security.

The Baltic states, strong supporters of Ukraine, have long feared they could be Russia’s next target and were concerned that Moscow might use the power grid as leverage. However, concerns about potential Russian interference during the transition did not materialize. Baltic electricity transmission operators stated that Russia remained cooperative throughout the process, with Latvia’s transmission system operator AST telling AFP that the most surprising part was that "there were no surprises at all."
In his nightly address, Zelensky noted that Kyiv had already taken similar measures in 2022. Now, with the Baltic states successfully freeing themselves from dependence on Russian energy, "Moscow can no longer use energy as a weapon to threaten these countries."

For Russia, the disconnection means its exclave of Kaliningrad, located between Lithuania, Poland, and the Baltic Sea, has been completely cut off from the Russian mainland power grid and must now operate its electricity system independently. The Kremlin stated that it has taken necessary measures to ensure stable power supply in the region, including constructing new natural gas power plants to address the challenge.