Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland have agreed to hold consultations in accordance with NATO's Article 4 in response to Russia's operation in Donbass.

Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas said today that "the most effective response to Russia's aggression is unity," further adding that there is no direct military threat to Estonia, and that the country's borders are calm.

The Estonian chief declared that her government has decided to trigger NATO consultations under the Alliance's Article 4 in cooperation with Latvia, Lithuania and Poland, citing a "threat to the entire free world" posed by Russia's military operation in Donbass.

There's a threat to the entire free world, as 🇷🇺 has launched a full-scale attack against #Ukraine - a sovereign European country. NATO consultations on strengthening the security of Allies must be initiated to implement additional measures for ensuring the defence of Allies. 2/2

— Kaja Kallas (@kajakallas) February 24, 2022

Russia has for months been warning of the threat posed against it by NATO's attempts to expand eastward, which happened alongside an increase in NATO military activity along Russia's borders, and batches of lethal weapons being sent to Ukraine, prompting Russia to request security guarantees from the West. Washington failed to provide the guarantees.

“They [Ukraine] vowed not to advance NATO, they didn’t keep their promise, they say: 'We didn’t sign anything.' But we know when and to whom such promises, such assurances were given. Did they promise not to advance, for example, to the territory of the former Soviet Union? They promised it in private conversations. They did not fulfill the promise. And now they are already moving right onto our borders," Deputy Chairman of the Russian Security Council, Dmitry Medvedev said on January 27.

Russian Federation flagrantly violated international law by launching a war against Ukraine. Lithuania strongly supports Ukraine's independence and sovereignty with internationally recognised borders. The Baltic States and Poland will propose invoking Article 4 of NATO.

— Lithuanian MOD (@Lithuanian_MoD) February 24, 2022

What is Article 4?

According to Article 4 of NATO's founding treaty, members consult together when in the opinion of any of them "the territorial integrity, political independence or security of any of the Parties is threatened."

As soon as Article 4 is invoked, the issue is discussed and can lead to some form of joint decision or action in the alliance. The article has been invoked six times since NATO's creation in 1949.

Role of Baltic States in Ukraine crisis

Poland and the Baltic states have been complicit in supplying Ukraine with lethal equipment against Russia, and have ramped up NATO troops numbers, further sparking Russia's fears of a threat against its security.

Washington had secretly approved in January the sending of weapons to Ukraine, with Estonia also asking for US approval to provide the latter with lethal weapons. The same goes for Latvia and Lithuania. Meanwhile, Germany blocked an Estonian attempt to send German weapons to Ukraine, as part of its attempts to defuse tensions with Russia amid the anti-Russia hysteria being propagated by the US, which spend $22 million since 2014 in Ukraine on anti-Russian narratives.

The US also sent 5,000 troops to Poland, and conducted NATO maneuvers in the Black Sea at Russia's borders.