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The Russian Foreign Ministry has called on Lithuania to lift the partial blockade of Kaliningrad, a Russian region near the Baltic Sea, warning that such actions are “openly hostile.”
Formerly known as Konigsberg, Kaliningrad, located between NATO member countries Poland and Lithuania, has been a Russian territory for the past 70 years or so.
Last week, Lithuania announced that it would ban the rail transportation of goods and goods to Kaliningrad, which is subject to European Union sanctions. This includes coal, construction materials, metals, and advanced technology.
On Monday, the Russian Foreign Ministry described the blockade as a “provocative measure” and warned that the Kremlin could take action to protect its interests.
“In the near future, if freight transport between the Kaliningrad region and other territories of the Russian Federation via Lithuania is not fully restored, Russia reserves the right to take steps to protect its national interests,” the ministry said. Statement Said..
The ministry said it had summoned Lithuanian diplomats to Moscow to protest the recent measures of the Baltic states. The blockade said it violated the 2002 agreement between Russia and the EU.
“The situation is serious and requires a very detailed analysis before formulating measures or decisions,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters earlier Monday. Report..
Details of the blockade came on June 17th through a video posted by Anton Alikhanov, Governor of the Russian region. According to Reuters, he told the residents not to buy up and said the two vessels were in the process of transporting goods to Kaliningrad.
“Our ferry processes all cargo,” Alihanov said on Saturday.
Meanwhile, Lithuania’s Deputy Foreign Minister Mantas Admenas told public broadcasters that his agency was waiting for “an explanation from the European Commission on applying European sanctions to Kaliningrad’s freight transport.”
Lithuania said it is only implementing EU sanctions as part of a series of measures aimed at punishing President Vladimir Putin for the invasion of Ukraine.read more
“Lithuania is not doing anything. European sanctions began on June 17,” Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis told reporters in Luxembourg.
“It took place under consultation from the Commission and the guidelines of the Commission,” Landsbergis continued.
Sanctions and the blockade of Kaliningrad are occurring due to the intensifying conflict between Russia and Ukraine, that is, in the eastern part of Ukraine. The EU, the United States, and several other Western countries have issued strict sanctions on Russia since the start of the conflict on February 24, including a US ban on all Russian oil.
Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Malyar publication “The struggle is very difficult,” he said on Monday in the Donbas region of Luhansk, and “it is very difficult” to make predictions.
Reuters contributed to this report.
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Jack Phillips is the latest news reporter for The Epoch Times, based in New York.
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