Lithuania: Ban on rail cargo transit to Kaliningrad directed by EU
Moscow lodges a protest to the Lithuanian charge d'affaires in Russia in connection with the decision of Vilnius to ban rail cargo transit to the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad.
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State-owned Lithuanian Railways stopped transit of goods between Russia and its Baltic Sea territory, citing EU restrictions
Lithuanian Foreign Minister, Gabrielius Landsbergis, indicated on Monday that the ban on the railroad transit of a number of sanctioned goods through the Lithuanian territory from Russia to its exclave region of Kaliningrad was introduced after consultations with the European Commission and under its guidelines.
"It is not Lithuania doing anything, it is European sanctions that started working from June 17. The industry that is imposing the sanctions at this point is the railroads," Landsbergis said upon his arrival at the EU Foreign Affairs Council.
State-owned Lithuanian Railways stopped transit of goods between Russia and its Baltic Sea territory starting at midnight this past Friday, citing restrictions directed by the EU.
The governor of Kaliningrad, Anton Alikhanov, said that oil products are not subject to transit limitations and the transit will continue unhindered through August 10.
Andrey Klimov, the chair of the Russian upper house commission for the protection of state sovereignty, said that the EU needs to fix the situation with Kaliningrad's blockade, otherwise Russia will have a free hand to resolve the issue by any means deemed necessary.
Moscow lodges protest over Lithuania decision
In response, the Russian Foreign Ministry confirmed in a statement that Moscow had lodged a protest to the Lithuanian charge d'affaires in Russia in connection with the decision of Vilnius to ban rail cargo transit to the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad.
The Ministry also summoned the Lithuanian charge d'affaires earlier in the day.
It underscored that "the head of the diplomatic mission was strongly protested in connection with the ban on the rail transit of a large range of goods through the territory of Lithuania to the Kaliningrad region, imposed by Vilnius without prior notification of the Russian side."
"We demanded the immediate lifting of these restrictions," the Russian statement affirmed, adding that Russia regards the actions of Lithuania as openly hostile and in violation of the international obligations of Vilnius.
Earlier, Kremlin Spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said that Lithuania's move to prohibit rail goods transit to the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad is unprecedented, describing the move as a "violation of everything."
