"I find it funny to hear how Russia is being accused of military aggressiveness. … This is of course being done consciously by the Baltic states themselves in order to receive money from you," Ivanov said.
He added that the Western governments would be forced to spend their defense budget "for unnecessary purposes.”
"But the most important thing is: Why do we have to do this? What, do you seriously think that we want to unleash war with NATO? Are we suicidal? What do we need this for?" the official pointed out.
NATO has boosted its military presence in the Baltic region amid the Ukrainian crisis, while Moscow has repeatedly expressed concern over the bloc's activities near Russian borders and denied claims of involvement in Ukraine's internal affairs.
