Russia to summon EU ambassador over goods transit ban decision
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EU Ambassador to Moscow will be summoned to the Russian Foreign Ministry over Lithuania's ban on the transit of goods under EU sanctions through Kaliningrad.
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Anton Alikhanov, Kaliningrad's governor
Anton Alikhanov, Kaliningrad's governor, confirmed that Russia's Foreign Ministry will summon on Tuesday the European Union's Ambassador to Moscow, Markus Ederer, over Lithuania's ban on the transit of goods under EU sanctions through Kaliningrad.
Lithuania banned the transit of goods under European Union sanctions through Lithuanian territory to and from the Russian exclave - Kaliningrad - citing EU sanction rules.
Alikhanov told the Russian television that "this is, of course, a situation, that can be resolved by diplomatic means."
"As far as I know, tomorrow Marcus Ederer, the European Union ambassador to Russia, will be summoned to the foreign ministry ... and he will be told of the appropriate conditions involved here," the Kaliningrad governor said.
The Russian Foreign Ministry did not officially confirm the summon.
Moscow lodges protest over Lithuania decision
State-owned Lithuanian Railways halted cargo transit between Russia and its Baltic Sea area on Friday at midnight, citing EU limitations. According to the region's officials, up to 50% of all rail goods to Kaliningrad have been banned.
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.
Lithuania breached a pact struck 20 years ago
Lithuania's move to prohibit rail goods transit to the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad is unprecedented, considered Kremlin Spokesperson Dmitry Peskov, who described it as a "violation of everything."
On his part, Russian Senator Andrey Klimov stated in a Telegram message on Monday that Lithuania is now essentially engaged in "direct aggression" against Russia, citing Vilnius' decision to halt the transit of sanctioned commodities to Russia's exclave of Kaliningrad.
According to the Russian senator who heads a commission for the defense of state sovereignty, Lithuania has breached a pact struck between Moscow and Brussels 20 years ago by refusing to allow specific commodities to transit through its territory to the Russian region.
