The dispute now threatens to escalate tensions between Moscow and the EU, which has revealed several packages of sanctions on Russian products. Here’s what you need to know about Kaliningrad, its history and its significance for Russia. Ever since Russia invaded Ukraine in late February, experts have feared that Kaliningrad could become a hotbed of tensions between Moscow and Europe. It is the westernmost territory of Russia and the only part of the country surrounded by EU states. Lithuania is located between it and Belarus, a nation ally of Russia, while Poland borders it to the south. On Monday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peshkov said the move was unprecedented and that Russia considered it illegal. “It’s part of an exclusion, of course,” he said. Other Russian officials threatened to respond. Nikolai Patrushev, Secretary of the Security Council of the Russian Federation, said: “Russia will certainly respond to such hostile actions. The measures are being worked out inter-service and will be taken in the near future. Lithuania “, according to the Russian state news agency RIA Novosti. According to the Russian state news agency TASS, citing the Ministry of Economic Development, products subject to sanctions banning exports to Russia from the European Union include construction machinery, machine tools and other industrial equipment. Some luxury items are also included. Lithuania has not imposed “unilateral, individual or additional” restrictions, its foreign ministry said in a statement on Monday. The Lithuanian envoy to Moscow was summoned to the Russian Foreign Ministry on Monday and told that if the transfer of goods to the Kaliningrad region is not fully restored, Russia reserves the right to take measures to protect its national interests. But the EU, whose sanctions are imposed by Lithuania by blocking transit, has backed its member state. Speaking to Reuters, Dmitry Lyskov, a spokesman for the regional government, was forced to urge residents not to panic to buy in response to the dispute. Products subject to sanctions will now have to travel by sea. A Lithuanian official, Rolandas Kacinskas, said on Tuesday that “the passage of EU-sanctioned passengers and goods in the Kaliningrad area through Lithuania continues unabated. [Lithuania] has not imposed unilateral, individual or additional restrictions on transit and is acting in full compliance with EU law. ”

What is Kaliningrad?

Kaliningrad is a Russian enclave located between Poland and Lithuania. It was occupied by Soviet troops from Nazi Germany in April 1945 and then became part of Soviet territory as a result of the Potsdam Agreement. It was renamed by the German Königsberg in 1946. For decades, it was a heavily militarized area, closed to foreigners. But in recent years Kaliningrad has become an emerging tourist destination and has hosted matches during the 2018 World Cup in Russia. It has a population of about one million, the majority of whom live in or near the eponymous capital. Exclave is one of the most prosperous regions of Russia, with an extensive industry. Its port, Baltiysk, is the westernmost port in Russia and, significantly, it is free of ice all year round.
The streets of the main city are filled with large specimens of old German architecture along with gloomy, concrete Soviet apartment buildings. But the significance of Kaliningrad comes mainly from the point on the map. A thin strip of land south of Kaliningrad separates it from Belarus and connects Polish and Lithuanian territory. Known as the Suwalki Corridor or Void, it is the only land connection between the Baltic States and the rest of the European Union. Kaliningrad is also the headquarters of the Russian Baltic Fleet. RIA Novosti reported Monday that the fleet had begun pre-scheduled missile and artillery drills, saying “about 1,000 military personnel and more than 100 units of military and special artillery and missile equipment are maneuvering.” In 2002, the EU and Moscow reached a travel agreement between Russia and Kaliningrad, before Poland and Lithuania joined the European Union in 2004. When these countries joined, the enclave was surrounded on three sides by EU territory. Russia says the 2002 agreement has now been violated.

Nuclear presence?

Kaliningrad became even more important to Russia with the planned accession of Sweden and Finland to NATO. Dmitry Medvedev, vice-president of Russia’s National Security Council, said in May that the accession plans meant that “it will no longer be possible to talk about any non-nuclear Baltic regime – the balance must be restored.” Russia has long hesitated the presence of NATO countries around Kaliningrad. “They moved NATO infrastructure along our borders,” Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told CNN in 2015, following reports that Russia had deployed nuclear-capable Iskander missiles in the region. “And this is not United States territory.” Russia has not acknowledged having Kaliningrad-based nuclear weapons, but in 2018 the Federation of American Scientists concluded that Russia had significantly upgraded a nuclear weapons depot in the region, based on satellite image analysis. Following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Lithuania urged NATO to increase troop deployments on its territory. In April, President Gitanas Nauseda said the NATO Enhanced Forward Battalion should be reduced to “at least” the size of a brigade, and called for the Suwalki corridor to be strengthened.