This is the best tl;dr I could make, original reduced by 82%. (I'm a bot)

> It is also the shortest land route between Russian ally, Belarus, and Russian territory in Kaliningrad. The concern is if President Vladimir Putin ever decided to escalate the war in Ukraine, Russian troops stationed at both ends of the Suwalki Gap could push in from the east and west simultaneously, potentially isolating Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia from the rest of NATO. "The Suwalki Gap is a potential vulnerability as Kaliningrad and Belarus - now basically a military extension of Russia - could try to cut the Baltic States off from Poland," underlines Linas Kojala, director of the Eastern Europe Studies Centre.

> The growing number of Russian troops currently stationed over the barbed wire in Belarus could quickly cross the border if Mr Putin ever decided to attack.

> Lithuania insists its military is prepared for potential Russian aggression.

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