Lithuania has declared its readiness to defend the Suwalki Corridor in the event of aggression by the Russian Federation
Lithuania is ready to defend the Suwalki Corridor and will not allow its territory to be occupied again.
Following Sweden’s accession to NATO, Russia’s Kaliningrad Oblast has effectively found itself surrounded by Alliance countries, creating additional logistical challenges for Russia.
“Given the European sanctions and the situation in Russia, the problem is that supplies from mainland Russia have fallen by 40–50%, and now, as we know, there are serious plans to find alternative routes. To ensure survival in this situation, they are looking for sea routes and air routes, which are extremely expensive, and there are also significant additional debts, other problems, and energy difficulties,” said Jauniškis.
At the same time, he emphasized that this situation creates additional risks for Lithuania and the entire Baltic region.
“They threaten to attack today, attack tomorrow, attack in two years… They’re creating psychological pressure to keep us on edge. Russia has repeated this so many times, and it has been going on for so long that we have, in fact, learned our lessons, made our preparations, and are ready for this,” the Lithuanian ambassador stated.
According to him, the Suwałki Corridor is a challenging area for military operations, and Poland is actively strengthening its defenses in that direction.
“And don’t forget that we, the Lithuanians, never lose our will to fight. We have learned our lessons from the past,” Jauniškis emphasized.
The Suwałki Corridor is a narrow strip of territory between Lithuania and Poland, located between Belarus and the Kaliningrad Oblast of the Russian Federation. Military experts consider it one of the most likely directions for potential Russian aggression, as the capture of this territory could sever the Baltic states’ land connections with other NATO countries and simplify logistics for Russian troops heading to Kaliningrad.
As a reminder, in May, Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda and Polish President Karol Nawrocki observed the joint Lithuanian-Polish military exercises “Brave Griffin-26,” which were dedicated to rehearsing actions to defend this strategic direction.
This was stated by Lithuanian Ambassador to NATO Darius Jauniškis during a discussion titled “Why Narva Isn’t Next and Other Myths” on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Ankara.
As a reminder, Lithuania is preparing additional response plans in case of possible provocations by Russia. The country’s Ministry of Defense reported that security at critical infrastructure sites has already been strengthened and preparations for potential threats are underway.
Lithuania has passed a law under which the state will compensate for damages if debris from downed drones or other aerial objects causes property damage. The decision applies to actions by the Lithuanian military and NATO forces. The goal of the changes is to enable the military to make faster decisions about intercepting threats without fear of potential damage.
