A new flashpoint in the wider Russia-West conflict is the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad in the Baltic, following Lithuania’s announcement that it is banning the passage of products such as coal, construction materials and advanced technology through its territories hosting its unique and its advanced outpost.
Lithuania claims that such an exclusion stems from EU sanctions against Russia, but Russia responds that the sanctions invoked by Lithuania violate the Russia-Kaliningrad agreement reached between Russia and the EU in 2002. that is, before Poland and Lithuania joined the Union two years later.
In a strong protest, the Russian Foreign Ministry spoke of an “unprecedented” and “illegal” decision, demanding that the passage of products through this railway connection be restored. The Russian government has sent the head of the Security Council of Russia and one of the closest allies of Russian President Vladimir Putin and warned that the response of Russia in any form will have a serious impact on the people of Lithuania.
Kaliningrad is inhabited by one million Russians who are cut off from Russia and border Lithuania to the north and Poland to the south, EU and NATO countries, while it is washed west by the Baltic Sea without having a direct connection to the Russian mainland. inland.
For Russia, this port is vital not only because the Russian Baltic fleet is based there, but also because in the area there is a narrow strip of land 65 km along the Polish-Lithuanian border that connects Kaliningrad from Russia’s closest ally today, Belarus.
In a future and unfortunate scenario of a NATO-Russia conflict, this corridor named Suwalki Gap enables Russia to advance its army on both sides – Kaliningrad and Belarus – thus completely isolating the Baltic countries belonging to the North Atlantic. alliance from Poland and the rest of NATO.
