When did Proto-Baltic begin developing as an independent language group?

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Baltic languages The Baltic states: Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania.

Proto-Baltic began to develop as an independent linguistic unit during the 2nd millennium BCE.1

This development occurred as the Baltic and Slavic protolanguages maintained close contact while emerging as distinct groups. During this same period, the Proto-Baltic area was quite large, which eventually influenced its internal evolution by reducing contact between its various dialects and leading to a gradual split within the language group. By the middle of the 1st millennium BCE, the Proto-Baltic area was already sharply divided into these distinct dialects.12