LUXEMBOURG, June 20. /TASS/. EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell stated that there is no blockade of Kaliningrad, the overland transit of passengers and goods continues, and only the transportation of goods included in the EU sanctions lists has been stopped. He said this speaking at a press conference following the meeting of EU foreign ministers in Luxembourg on Monday.
"There is no blockade. Transit of passengers and goods which are not sanctioned continue," Borrell said.
"Lithuania is not taking any unilateral restrictions but in accordance with EU sanctions there are imports and exports restrictions in relation to certain goods (the list of banned goods contains several thousands of items - TASS) including the transit of those goods through the EU territory. Lithuania is doing nothing else but implementing the guidelines provided by the EU Commission," he said. Borrel added that the EU authorities will double check legal aspects to verify that they completely align with the rules.
Earlier, the governor of the Kaliningrad region, Anton Alikhanov, said that Lithuanian railways had notified the railways of the Kaliningrad region that since June 18 they had restricted the transit of a number of goods from Russian regions to the Kaliningrad region due to European sanctions. He also said that new ships may start services along the Ust-Luga - Baltiysk ferry line within five to seven days following Lithuania’s ban on the rail transit of some goods through its territory.
The Russian Foreign Ministry said that they consider Lithuania's actions to restrict transit to the Kaliningrad region openly hostile and demand that the restrictions be lifted immediately. 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.