Vilnius and Warsaw plan to hold exercises in the Suwalki corridor on the border of the two countries in April.

Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda announced this in an interview with the Delfi portal.

“I’m glad that the President of Poland really responded strongly to the desire to conduct joint exercises on this piece of land called the Suwalki corridor,” Nauseda said.

“We are already talking about very specific dates, perhaps this could happen in April.”

The topic of the Suwalki corridor was also discussed at Nauseda’s meeting with Polish President Andrzej Duda, which took place on January 21 in Vilnius.

Duda then said that the Suwalki corridor is “a region that requires special attention.”

  • Gitanas Nauseda

  • AP

  • © Andreea Alexandru

“We know how sensitive a place from the point of view of European security today is what we call the Suwalki corridor,” the Lithuanian publication LRT quotes the Polish leader as saying.

Later in an interview with Delfi, Duda emphasized that Poland is serious about protecting the Suwalki corridor and has already taken measures to secure the eastern part of the country.

“In recent years, we have been restoring Poland’s defense capability precisely in the eastern part of our country: it is there that new units are being created, the capabilities of those units that have always been in Bartoszyce, Grajewo and other areas are being restored, Poland’s military participation is being strengthened, as well as border security,” - said the Polish President.

On January 21, Nauseda said that Warsaw and Vilnius “will strengthen military cooperation,” conduct joint exercises, increase mobility and “seek additional forms for joint training” of the armed forces.

As LRT recalls, the last time the two countries held joint military exercises was in 2023 in Klaipeda.

Special Operations Forces were involved in the maneuvers.

The Polish and Lithuanian contingents worked, in particular, to liberate occupied critical infrastructure.

"Bear Corner" of Poland

Let us remind you that the Suwalki corridor is a section of territory about 100 km long in the area of ​​the city of Suwalki in the north-eastern part of Poland.

This area is located between the Kaliningrad (Russia) and Grodno (Belarus) regions.

Lithuania has repeatedly expressed concerns that Russia could establish control over this region and thereby cut off the Baltic states from the rest of the EU.

Thus, in June last year, Nauseda, at a press conference following a meeting in The Hague with the participation of NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, said that the deployment of a NATO brigade in Lithuania is necessary to protect the Suwalki corridor.

  • Border of Lithuania and Poland

  • Gettyimages.ru

  • © Artur Widak / NurPhot

And in December, Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis called on Poland to develop a joint defense plan for the corridor.

According to the minister, countries should equally share responsibility for this site.

“The northern part of the corridor could be defended by Lithuania, the southern by Poland,” TASS quotes him as saying.

In the same month, the Lithuanian Ministry of Defense announced the need to include the civilian airfield Pociunai, which is located next to the Suwalki corridor, on the list of strategic objects.

If this measure is approved, the air harbor will come under the control of the military department.

“Potsunai airfield is located in a strategically important location - next to the Suwalki corridor, and therefore should be considered a strategically important facility,” the ministry said in a statement.

The Western media are also fueling the hype around the Suwalki corridor.

So, in 2022, the Politico newspaper published an article entitled “The Most Dangerous Place on Earth.”

It noted that “Western military planners warn that if the Russian president ever decides to escalate the war in Ukraine into a kinetic confrontation with NATO, this area (the Suwalki corridor -

RT

) would likely be one of his first targets "

In turn, the German tabloid Bild, citing an allegedly secret Bundeswehr document, reported in January of this year that the conflict between NATO and Russia, according to the scenario of the German Ministry of Defense, could begin in the summer of 2025.

At the same time, the Suwalki corridor is named as the most likely location of the collision.

Meanwhile, Russia has repeatedly noted that this region is of no interest to Moscow.

In particular, at the end of 2023, the governor of the Kaliningrad region, Anton Alikhanov, in an interview with RIA Novosti, stated that the Suwalki corridor is distinguished by a complex landscape that is unsuitable for logistics and the movement of equipment, including military equipment.

“The Suwalki corridor is not interesting, no matter what anyone tells you.

Even if the experts say something about how this is the most important point and we need to take control of it.

No need... Because there is nothing there except a two-lane road winding through the forest.

It is extremely inconvenient from a logistics point of view, both conventional and military.

This territory is part of the Rominten Forest, the Vishtynets Upland.

This is a rugged terrain: mountains, small hills and dense forest.

Who needs this territory in terms of logistics and quick transfer of troops or anything else?

No one,” the governor explained.

Vladimir Olenchenko, a senior researcher at the Center for European Studies at IMEMO RAS, described the Suwalki corridor in a similar way.

“In Poland, the Suwalki corridor is called the bear’s corner because there are very unkempt lands there.

Tourism is the only thing it is used for.

From an economic point of view, there is no benefit from owning this region,” the expert said in an interview with RT.

There is also talk in Minsk about the lack of interest in the Suwalki corridor.

This was stated, in particular, by Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko last August.

“Listen, the Suwalki corridor is not in Belarus.

We do not move along this corridor or to the corridor.

We don't need it for a thousand years.

The main thing is that it should be calm,” BELTA quoted Lukashenko as saying.

“The blockade is an act of aggression”

According to RISI expert Sergei Ermakov, the attention of NATO military leaders has long been focused on the Suwalki corridor, because it is one of the most vulnerable places for an allegedly hypothetical attack by Russia on NATO countries.

Hence the plans to conduct exercises in the area.

“This notorious myth about the Russian threat is being inflated by NATO in order to maintain the solidity of its ranks and extract more and more money for military spending.

This is why such horror stories are drawn.

The persistence of this myth is facilitated by the fact that, from the point of view of military geography, this place is actually considered quite vulnerable for the NATO military,” the analyst said in an interview with RT.

  • Kaliningrad

  • Gettyimages.ru

  • © Sam Diephuis

At the same time, experts emphasize that Russia has no reason to launch any military operations to take control of the Suwalki corridor.

In particular, at the moment Moscow has every opportunity to provide a stable supply to the Kaliningrad region.

“We currently have supply to Kaliningrad by land through Lithuania.

It is organized in accordance with an agreement with the EU.

There are also sea and air connections,” noted Vladimir Olenchenko.

Sergei Ermakov shares a similar point of view.

“Of course, in the current conditions, various complications have arisen with the supply of Kaliningrad.

But these problems are being solved.

Russia uses primarily diplomatic, political and economic opportunities for this.

Now we don’t have any serious problems with communications with the Kaliningrad region,” said Sergei Ermakov.

The expert also noted that the West is unlikely to blockade the Kaliningrad region, which could potentially lead to an escalation of the situation, including in the Suwalki corridor.

“The blockade of the Kaliningrad region by the West would mean a casus belli.

A blockade is an act of aggression.

This is how it could be viewed.

Therefore, NATO members will not openly agree to this.

However, NATO will provoke us, conduct dubious regional exercises clearly directed against us, as Lithuania and Poland are now planning.

Such actions will most likely expand,” summed up Sergei Ermakov.