"The
Lithuanian government, which had launched a" blockade "of the
Kaliningrad region," knocked down the chair "on which Vilnius was
sitting as a member of the European Union (EU), said Russian Senator Andrei
Klimov.
He demanded that
the EU force Lithuania to lift restrictions on the transit of Russian cargo to
the Kaliningrad region and noted that otherwise Russia would have "free
hands" to solve "this problem" itself.
"If the
European Union does not immediately correct the arrogant outburst in Vilnius,
such actions will despise the legitimacy of all documents proving Lithuania's
membership in the EU and open our hands to solve the problem caused by
Lithuania's blockade of transit to Kaliningrad by any means we choose," he wrote in
his Telegram.
He also stated
that by deciding to restrict the transit of almost half of the cargo
transported from Russia to its westernmost region, Lithuania had "knocked
down a chair" on which it had been a member of the EU for many years.
The senator added
that he believed NATO had in fact declared a blockade of the Russian region using
the hands of one of its member states.
"The latter
action can be considered as direct aggression against Russia, which in practice
forces us to take appropriate self-defense actions without delay," Klimov
summed up.
At the time, the
Kremlin called the ban on the transit of sanctioned goods to Kaliningrad
illegal. The ban on transit through Lithuania of authorized goods between Kaliningrad
and Russia is an unprecedented "violation of everything,"
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Monday.
He is quoted in
the Russian newspaper Kommersant.
Peskov told
Kommersant FM that such actions could be seen as "undoubtedly an element
of the blockade".
"We
understand that this is due to the relevant decision of the European Union to
extend sanctions to all transit. We also consider it illegal, "he said.
"The
situation in this regard is more than serious and requires very in-depth
analysis before formulating any measures and making decisions. This detailed analysis
will be carried out in the coming days, "said the press secretary of the
Russian president.
The news agency
Reuters and the Russian editorial office of the British broadcaster BBC quoted
the governor of the Kaliningrad region Anton Alichanov in his statements on
Saturday as saying that the Lithuanian state-owned freight company LTG Cargo
had informed the Russian Kaliningrad region's railway officials that Western
sanctions prohibits the transit of many goods by rail.
"We are
currently awaiting clarification from the European Commission regarding the
application of the European sanctions regime to Kaliningrad commercial
transit," the Deputy Minister said.
Mantas Dubauskas,
a representative of Lietuvos Geležinkeliai, told LRT Radio that the company was
implementing sanctions from the EU institutions against Russia and Belarus,
which had to enter into force in full by mid-June.
BNS wrote that
according to the governor of Kaliningrad, the restrictions will affect 40-50
percent. products that are imported to other regions of Russia and exported
from them in transit through Lithuania.
The Kaliningrad
region is sandwiched between Lithuania and Poland and has no land border with
Russia.
"We consider
this to be the most serious violation of the right to free transit to and from
the Kaliningrad region," Alichanov said in a video on the Telegram
platform, adding that the authorities would work to see the measures lifted.
According to him,
the goods affected by this decision include construction materials, cement and
metal products.
The governor also
published a document from LTG Cargo for Kaliningrad Railways, which states that
the restrictions will take effect at midnight on Saturday.
Western countries
imposed unprecedented sanctions on Moscow when Russian President Vladimir Putin
sent troops to Ukraine on February 24.
The West is also
providing significant military and economic assistance to Kyiv, whose forces
are working fiercely to repel the Russian invasion.
Moscow has reacted
angrily to Lithuania's restrictions on rail transport between Russia's
Kaliningrad region and the rest of Russia.
"The blockade
of Kaliningrad violates international law," Konstantin Kosachev, one of
the most important foreign policy figures in the Russian Federation, wrote on
his Telegram at night.
"As a member
of the EU, Lithuania is violating many legally binding international legal
acts," Kosačiovas wrote. For example, according to him, the EU-Russia
partnership agreement stipulates that neither country will interfere in the
other country's transport networks.
For more than a
week now, Russian state television has been calling for the creation of a new way from
the main Russian territory to Kaliningrad. This would essentially mean a
Russian attack on NATO member Lithuania."
Oh, look, Juozai, we're going to beard the lion in his den, covering it up with those stupid people from the European Commission ...
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