Kaliningrad is geographically separated from mainland Russia and is wedged between Poland and Lithuania on the Baltic Sea.

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If America can obtain Russian help in squeezing Iran's nuclear and missile programmes, and if Russia also backs down on its threatened deployment of missiles in the Kaliningrad region, which borders Poland, it would be easy for the administration to walk even further away from missile defence.

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Belarus is currently a marginal importer of electricity, and a new nuclear plant, coupled with an additional plant in nearby Kaliningrad, would generate a significant amount of electricity that could be exported by Belarus and Russia to Lithuania and elsewhere in the region.

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