The Kremlin has criticized Lithuania’s rail transit restrictions between Russia’s Baltic Sea enclave of Kaliningrad and the Russian mainland as “illegal”. “This decision is really unprecedented and is a violation of everything,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Monday, according to Interfax news agency. The EU’s decision to impose sanctions on Russia is illegal. He spoke of a “more than serious situation”.
The Kaliningrad enclave around the former Königsberg lies between Lithuania and Poland. It is only 500 kilometers from Berlin, but more than 1000 kilometers from Moscow.
Lithuania has banned the transit of goods on Western sanctions lists by rail through its territory to Kaliningrad since Saturday. According to the head of the Kaliningrad regional administration, Anton Alikhanov, this affects 40-50% of all goods in transit, such as building materials and metals.
threatened countermeasures
Peskow spoke of “elements of a blockade”. He didn’t want to say anything about possible countermeasures. Meanwhile, the Russian Foreign Ministry has summoned Lithuania’s interim diplomatic representative in Moscow because of transit restrictions – the ambassador was withdrawn in April because of the war in Ukraine. Moscow asked Vilnius to lift restrictions “immediately”. Otherwise, Russia “will take steps to protect its national interests”.
In talk shows on Russian state television, participants in recent weeks have repeatedly called for the creation of a “corridor” between Russia’s core and the Baltic Sea enclave of Kaliningrad. This would mean an attack on the intermediate countries of Latvia and Lithuania. (apa/reu)