Suwałki Gap

Get the top defense news stories delivered to you every morning, six days a week! We value your privacy. We will not rent or sell your email address. PUTIN�S NEXT LAND GRAB: THE SUWALKI GAP Agnia Grigas, Feb 14, 2016 Why the Suwalki Gap Keeps Top U.S. General in Europe Up at Night by JIM MACEDADEC 7 2015, Reinforcing Deterrence on NATO's Eastern Flank Shlapak, David A. and Michael Johnson. Santa Monica, CA: RAND Corporation, 2016. NATO: The Enduring Alliance 2016 Lithuanian authorities on 18 June 2022 banned the transit through their territory of goods to the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad that are subject to European Union sanctions, according to the national rail service. The ban would cover between 40 and 50 percent of the items that Kaliningrad imports from and exports to Russia through Lithuania as the EU sanctions list notably includes coal, metals, construction materials and advanced technology. In February, Lithuania closed its airspace to flights from Russia to Kaliningrad, forcing commercial carriers to take a longer route out over the Baltic Sea. Kinzhal hypersonic missiles and Iskander-M systems in Kaliningrad establish a permanent Anti-Access/Area Denial (A2/AD) bubble over the Suwalki Gap, complicating NATO logistics. European officials were negotiating the release of the Kaliningrad region he EU sanctions that affected industrial goods such as steel. By 29 June 2022 European officials were seeking a compromise with the support of Germany. Lithuania allegedly fears that if tensions are not eased, Moscow could use military force to build a land corridor to Kaliningrad. "We have to face the truth ," said one person who is directly familiar with the EU debate, calling Kaliningrad "sacred" to Moscow. "Putin has much more leverage than we do. It is in our interest to find a compromise , "said the source, acknowledging that the end result may seem unfair. At the same time, a representative of the Lithuanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that it would continue consultations with the European Commission on the application of sanctions. "Sanctions must be applied and any decisions taken must not undermine the credibility and effectiveness of EU sanctions policy ," he said. In the past few years, many new routes have sprung up on the New Silk Road. With the continuously rising popularity of rail transportation between Europe and China, there was need of alternatives to the traditional route taking through the Polish-Belarusian border. By 2020, the route via Kaliningrad had proven most successful. Back in 2017, RTSB, a leading rail forwarder on the New Silk Road, was one of the first to �give Kaliningrad, Svisloch and Grodno a try as alternative border crossings to the main corridor Brest � Terespol�. The crossings at Svisloch and Grodno are alternatives on the Polish-Belarusian border, whereas Kaliningrad is a Russian enclave between Poland and Lithuania. Freight trains are routed through Lithuania after crossing Belarus. The enclave � home to the Russian Baltic Fleet and a deployment location for Moscow�s nuclear-capable Iskander missiles � is sandwiched on the Baltic coast between Lithuania and Poland, both NATO members, and has no land border with Russia. Some Russian analysts suggest that Lithuania�s move to block Russia�s access to its own territory could, to some extent, be considered a �casus belli� � a cause for the declaration of war. The governor of the region , Anton Alikhanov , stated that the ferry complex of the Kaliningrad region will cope with new cargo due to restrictions on transit through Lithuania . Transportation of oil products to the Kaliningrad region through Lithuania continues, their transit is not limited until August 10. Vilnius insists that it has not outright banned transit between the exclave and the rest of Russia and has not introduced any additional restrictions. Lithuania maintains that the transit of passengers and goods not subject to EU sanctions will continue through its