After Lithuania bans the transit of goods to Kaliningrad, Russia threatens retaliatory actions

By Judy J. Beasley Last updated Jan 29, 2023

Russia has caused concern in Brussels by threatening retaliatory actions due to Lithuania’s ban on the transit of some goods through its territory to the Russian Baltic Sea exclave of Kaliningrad.

The government’s move in Vilnius was described as “unprecedented” in Moscow, where Russia’s foreign office said it reserved the right to respond to protect its national interests.

The comments set off alarm bells in Brussels, where EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said Lithuania was simply implementing the bloc’s sanctions regime. But he added that he was concerned about the risk of retaliation and that he would check that all rules were being followed, accusing the Kremlin of peddling propaganda.

“I always worry about Russian retaliation,” he said. “There is no blockade. Land transit between Kaliningrad and other parts of Russia was not prohibited. Second, the transit of people and goods that are not subject to sanctions continues. Thirdly, Lithuania did not take any unilateral national restrictions.

“We are cautious. We will double check the legal aspects to make sure we are fully compliant with any regulations.

“However, Lithuania is not guilty. It does not enforce national sanctions. It does not do their will. What they are doing has been the result of previous consultation with the commission that provided the guidelines. And implementation guidelines”.

Panic buying broke out in Kaliningrad over the weekend after regional authorities announced that Lithuania was preparing to close railway and gas pipeline connections with Russia.

Putin’s spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, further escalated tensions on Monday by threatening to respond to what he called an “illegal move.” He said: “This decision is truly unprecedented. It’s a violation of everything. We believe this is illegal. The situation is more than serious… We need a serious and thorough analysis to answer this question.

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Sandwiched between Lithuania in the north and east, and Poland to the south, Kaliningrad is about 800 miles (1,300 km) from Moscow and depends on most of its supplies by rail.

The Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that Vilnius must cancel the “openly hostile” step. “If cargo transit between the Kaliningrad region and the rest of the Russian Federation through Lithuania is not fully restored in the near future, Russia reserves the right to take action to defend its national interests,” the report reads.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs summoned the chief diplomatic representative of Lithuania to Moscow for an official protest and said that the Baltic nation is acting in violation of international agreements.

However, after the meeting in Brussels, Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis stated that Moscow is spreading false information, and the state railway service is acting legally, only by implementing the EU sanctions regime, which prohibits the supply of steel or iron ore goods to Russia. .

Landsbergis said that less than half of the goods normally supplied in transit through Lithuania will be subject to the sanctions regime over time, with the steel ban taking effect on June 17.

“I don’t think it’s the first time Russian authorities have published false information, but I’m glad we have an opportunity to clarify this,” he said. “Currently, less than half of the goods transiting Lithuania are on the sanctions list, but this does not mean that all of them are currently subject to sanctions.

“Because there are different liquidation periods, and some of them, like oil, will only be sanctioned at the end of the year, from December, although the authorities have announced that it is already sanctioned, which is not true. .

Items are prohibited under EU sanctions Introduced after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, they include coal, metals, construction materials and advanced technology.

Much of the panic in the exclave appears to have been sparked by regional governor Anton Alikhanov’s calls for calm on Saturday.

He said two ships are already plying between Kaliningrad and St. Petersburg, and seven more will be commissioned by the end of the year. “Our ferries will handle all the cargo,” he said on Saturday.

Videos later surfaced, which could not be independently verified, of people loading shopping carts at DIY stores in response to the news.

Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, Dmitry Kuleba, tweeted: “Russia has no right to threaten Lithuania. Moscow has only itself to blame for the consequences of its unprovoked and unjustified invasion of Ukraine. We praise Lithuania’s principled position and firmly stand by our Lithuanian friends.

Kaliningrad, home to the headquarters of Russia’s Baltic Sea Fleet, has a population of about 500,000. in 1945 in April, the Red Army captured it from Nazi Germany, and after the end of the war, it was handed over to the Soviet Union.