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Anti-Russian sanctions

Moscow vows not to abandon Minsk amid sanctions

Earlier, Lithuania refused to furnish transit of Belarusian potash fertilizers through its territory

MOSCOW, January 13. /TASS/. Moscow "will not abandon" Minsk amid the imposed sanctions, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Thursday.

The spokesman remained tight-lipped regarding a question about whether Russia is poised to redirect supplies of Belarusian potash fertilizers through its territory following Lithuania’s refusal to furnish such transit due to Washington’s sanctions against Minsk. "I leave this question unanswered, [since] it is a sensitive issue," the press secretary said.

"Belarus is our partner, and we are not abandoning it and will not abandon it," Peskov assured. He stayed mum on whether the leaders of Russia and Belarus are planning to discuss the transit of Belarusian fertilizers.

Despite the sanctions imposed by Washington on December 8 against the Belarusian manufacturer, the transit of its products through Lithuania has not stopped. According to the Lithuanian railway operator Lietuvos Gelezinkeliai, the company received an advance payment from its Belarusian customers, therefore it cannot unilaterally halt transporting fertilizers to the Klaipeda seaport.

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