MOSCOW, June 22. /TASS/. Blocked transit to Kaliningrad will not shake Moscow's resolution to stand up for its interests, but it adds tension, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov told TASS on Wednesday.
"Of course, this cannot shake our resolution to assuredly stand up for our interests, but it adds tension. Uncertainty is growing with regard to what scenarios these anti-Russian agents in Washington, Vilnius, Brussels are developing and preparing. But we, as they say, are fully armed, and retaliatory measures against the European Union are inevitable," the senior diplomat said.
Ryabkov also noted that Lithuania may have made the decision to ban cargo transits to Kaliningrad under pressure from the US.
"The US’ influence in European affairs is enormous today. European countries have largely lost independence in foreign policy decision making. I see this as yet another instance of hybrid warfare, which NATO and EU countries have declared to Russia," he said.
As the Kaliningrad Region Governor Anton Alikhanov said on June 17, Lithuanian railway officials had notified Kaliningrad that starting on June 18, they would restrict the transit of a number of goods from Russia proper to the Kaliningrad Region due to European sanctions.
Alikhanov also published a notice from the Lithuanian railway to customers. Trucks were not mentioned in the document but on Tuesday, there were media reports citing drivers of heavy trucks that they were no longer allowed to pass through the territory of Lithuania.
The governor noted that Lithuania’s actions are illegal and violate agreements, because when the Baltic country joined the EU, it guaranteed the preservation of transit to Kaliningrad.
Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov called the decision of Vilnius unprecedented and illegal. In the next few days, Russia will conduct a "deep analysis" of the situation, following which it will develop retaliatory measures, he said.