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The war in Ukraine has a new diplomatic and economic front. Moscow has threatened the Lithuanian government with what it calls "serious consequences" for banning the transfer of some goods, through Lithuania, to the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad. Kaliningrad is a small wedge of territory, sandwiched between Lithuania and Poland, which the Soviet Union annexed from Germany after World War Two. 

It shares no land border with the rest of Russia and relies heavily on the import of raw materials and spare parts from Russia and the EU and is also where Russia's Baltic Fleet is headquartered. 

Matthew Karnitschnig, a journalist with Politico, explains why the strip of land, Suwalki Gap, is so significant, both to Russia, who uses it to transport goods to Kaliningrad, and to Nato, and the serious implications if Russia attempt to block this strip of land off. The Lithuanian authorities have announced they would ban goods subject to EU sanctions from passing through their territory to Kaliningrad, which includes coal, metals, construction materials and advanced technology. He says that if the route is closed off, the only other way Russia could get goods into Kaliningrad is via the Baltic sea, which is a "riskier neighbourhood" than it used to be.

Photo: A passanger train arrives to the border railway station Kybartai, between Kaliningrad and Lithuania Credit: EPA

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