NATO’s most exposed members
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The Suwalki Gap that separates the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad from Kremlin-aligned Belarus is the only land link from Central Europe to the Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania
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NATO members (includes Canada, U.S.)
NATO Enhanced  Opportunities Partners*

Kadetrinne: Strategic sea route to Baltic states 

ESTONIA 
LATVIA
RUSSIA
DENMARK 
GERMANY
SLOVENIA
CROATIA 
ITALY
Baltic Sea
KALININGRAD
POLAND
SLOVAKIA
LITHUANIA 
BELARUS
Suwalki Gap: 65km-wide corridor is chokepoint should Russia attempt to cut off Baltic states
CZECH REP.
UKRAINE
GEORGIA
HUNGARY 
ROMANIA 
BULGARIA
Black Sea
Crimea: Annexed by Russia
TURKEY
NORWAY 
SWEDEN
FINLAND
FINLAND

500km 300 miles

*Closest form of cooperation with NATO. Georgia, Ukraine join in September 2014
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1997: NATO leaders and Russian President Boris Yeltsin (left) sign Founding Act to build trust, cooperation and limit military presence of both sides in eastern Europe
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1999: Prime Minister Vladimir Putin (right) invades Chechnya to subdue
separatist movement
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Mar 2000: Putin elected president, vows to restore Russia on world stage
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Mar 2004: Seven new members, including Baltic states, join NATO
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Aug 2008: Russia invades Georgia, seizes Abkhazia and South Ossetia
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Mar 2014: Annexation of Crimea
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Feb 2022: Invasion of Ukraine  
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Sources: Bloomberg, NATO, Reuters Pictures: Getty Images © GRAPHIC NEWS