April 20, 2024

Taylor Daily Press

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Russia angry at Lithuania's blockade of Kaliningrad: "This is an unprecedented violation" |  Abroad

Russia angry at Lithuania’s blockade of Kaliningrad: “This is an unprecedented violation” | Abroad

Russia reacted angrily to Lithuania’s ban on allowing goods to pass into Kaliningrad. Related to goods banned by the European Union due to the invasion of Ukraine, such as coal, minerals and building materials.

The ambassador of Lithuania had to respond to the Russian Foreign Ministry. He was told that Russia would protect its interests if the railway was not restored.

Kaliningrad is a piece of Russian territory located between Poland and Lithuania. Russia supplies Kaliningrad with goods via a railway that passes through Lithuania. Therefore, Lithuania has suspended some of these goods since Saturday. The governor of Kaliningrad estimates that half of all materials are delivered by train.

“We have not seen this before, it is a violation of everything,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov angrily told reporters. We consider this an illegal move and take it very seriously. We will now analyze our reaction very carefully.”

Russia demands Lithuania to lift restrictions immediately and threatens on Monday to respond to “hostile” retaliatory measures over the transit of some goods through Lithuania to Kaliningrad. Kaliningrad is a strategic and military enclave on the shores of the Baltic Sea. The enclave is separated from the rest of the Russian territory and bordered only by the member states of the European Union and NATO.

“incorrect information”

Lithuania speaks of “misinformation by the Russian authorities”. This is “not the first time,” says Foreign Minister Gabrieles Landsbergis. According to him, his country is only implementing the European sanctions that entered into force on Friday.

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Landsbergis said about half of the goods passing through Lithuania to Kaliningrad are subject to EU sanctions. But for some commodities, such as petroleum products, the sanctions will not take effect for some time.