MOSCOW, June 20. /TASS/. Russia has openly conveyed to Lithuania that a ban on transit to the Kaliningrad Region has nothing to do with European sanctions, Russian temporary charge d’affaires in Vilnius Sergey Ryabokon said on Monday.
"Today, we let them know clearly, <...> that this (ban on transit - TASS) is absolutely not about the sanctions anymore, this is a different matter. This is a blockade, a partial cargo blockade that they introduce basically in such a way against our region. This is what we told them absolutely openly, said it straight up directly," he told the Rossiya-1 TV channel.
According to the diplomat, Lithuania has informed the Russian side with a telegram that it will let pass through Lithuanian territory all the transit loaded before June 17.
He added that the transit loaded after June 17 won’t pass through Lithuania on many positions. "It should be noted that this means certain positions, another matter is that there are too many of them. And Governor [of the Kaliningrad Region Anton Alikhanov] says that this is about one half of all products that Kaliningrad receives," the envoy specified.
On June 17, Alikhanov reported that Lithuanian officials had informed the region’s railway authorities of a ban on the transit of a range of goods through their territory due to the EU’s anti-Russian sanctions from June 18. The head of the region emphasized that Lithuania’s actions were illegal and violated agreements since upon joining the EU it guaranteed to preserve transit to the region. Andrey Klishas, who chairs the Federation Council Committee on Constitutional Legislation and State Building, branded Lithuania’s actions as a blockade and noted that this may force Russia to retaliate with very tough and absolutely legitimate measures, while Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that Lithuania’s decision requires some serious analysis following which Russia would develop retaliatory measures.