Russia building empire, Estonian army chief says

The current developments in Russia can be compared to what Hitler was busy with in the second half of the 1930s, the army chief said.

"Russia's strategic or, as they themselves say, national interests in the South Caucasus are not related to Georgia alone, there are much broader ambitions and agendas," Laaneots said.

"What it's all about is that Russia is right now feverishly building up an empire and is doing it in a fully Stalinist manner. If you look at what Hitler was doing in the second half of the 1930s and compare it with what is going on in Russia right now, there are a lot of similarities," the lieutenant-general said.

Laaneots said that Russia's desire is to use energy to get Western Europe, the EU, and through it also NATO, under its control.

"For that a very efficient weapon exists now -- the energy weapon," he said, explaining that Russia was seeking to establish control over the South Caucasus transit corridor through which oil from the Caspian basin and the Central Asia is brought to Europe.

"When it gets it, it'll control not only the whole of Central Asia but also -- through energy -- Europe, and will get many Asian countries under its control too," Laaneots said on the talk show.