Rubio made the comments during a meeting of NATO foreign ministers in Sweden, The Guardian reported. He was responding to Russian accusations that the Baltic countries were preparing to cooperate with Ukraine on drone attacks inside Russia.
“We understand these countries feel threatened by it, obviously, for obvious reasons,” The Guardian quoted Rubio.
“So, it’s a concerning thing, because you always worry that something like that can spark into something bigger, and that’s always a possibility.”
He added that Washington is “carefully” monitoring the situation.
“We’re concerned about it, because we don’t want it to lead to some broader conflict that can really lead to something far worse.”
On May 19, Russia’s UN ambassador, Vasily Nebenzya,
threatened the Baltic countries with “retaliation” after Russian intelligence claimed
Ukrainian drones had been launched from their territory. Latvia called the
claims “lies” and a sign of “desperation and weakness.”