So there are two points of a vulnerability here: one is on Russia’s side, you have a small piece of Russian territory cut off from the rest of Russia. Western intelligence sources say, and openly, that they do have those missiles in Kaliningrad. They’ve never said whether those have nuclear weapons attached to them they are capable, though, of having those. Russia has stationed Iskander missiles there. It’s also become an interesting place militarily. The other ones closer to St Petersburg all freeze over. It’s the only port that is ice-free in the Baltic Sea for Russia. It’s the home to the Baltic fleet, the Russian Baltic fleet. HAMILTON: Right, well, it is Russian territory, it’s as agreed internationally, so no one’s questioning that. Why is it important to them in general but also how does this play into their current war against Ukraine? PITA: Maybe you could also explain to us why Kaliningrad is important to Russia. It’s a very dicey situation if you look at the map and how this could unfold. And it was to make sure, you know, none of these problematic areas became a flashpoint, but unfortunately the turn of events now, it is. These were all set up at the end of the Cold War when relations with Russia were fairly good. So it’s a very complicated set of arrangements. Lithuania has is one of the bordering countries and has the rail transport from Kaliningrad goes through Lithuania and then into Belarus to Russia. It’s really not connected to the main part of Russia, and you have to travel through two other countries to get from Kaliningrad, Russia to the rest of Russia.
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So the Soviet Union administered it and named it Kaliningrad in 1946, and so it was really just part of the Soviet Union.Īnd so these borders didn’t matter as much when everything was connected, but at the end of the Cold War, the Baltic States each broke free and are now members of the EU and NATO, which has left this piece of Russian territory as an exclave. Kaliningrad used to be called Königsberg, who was a very important German city, and it was given back it was given to the Soviet Union at the end of the World War II, at the Potsdam Conference. So this part of Europe used to be German territory. HAMILTON: Right, well, the war in Ukraine is having us all look at the maps again of eastern Europe, and this is a part of Europe where the borders have always been switching around. Why is there this this little pocket of Russia, roughly a million people, in between Lithuania and Poland, with no direct border with Russia? PITA: Maybe you could start us off with a little bit of background about why this situation even exists. With us to discuss the current standoff and whether it could become a new flashpoint in Russia’s war on Ukraine is Dan Hamilton, nonresident senior fellow, Center on the US and Europe, and president of the Transatlantic Leadership Network.
PITA: New tensions are rising between Russia and NATO after Lithuania announced last week it would halt transportation of EU-sanctioned goods coming from Russia across Lithuanian territory to the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad on the Baltic Sea. Thanks to audio engineer Gaston Reboredo. Listen to Brookings podcasts here, on Apple or Google podcasts or on Spotify, send email feedback to follow us at Twitter. Strengthening the US and NATO defense postures in Europe after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.Ahead of the NATO summit in Madrid, Dan Hamilton explains the new front in tensions between NATO and Russia and the potential for Russian escalation. Russia has threatened consequences for Lithuania after the NATO member state blocked transit of EU-sanctioned goods through its territory to the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad.