Russia threatens Lithuania for restricting the transit of goods to Kaliningrad, pledgetimes.com

The secretary of the Russian Security Council, Nikolai Patrushev, assured that Moscow will adopt measures that would have a “serious negative impact” on Lithuania if the partial blockade of some products to the enclave of Kaliningrad is not lifted. Vilnius defends that it is only applying the sanctions imposed by the European Union. […]

Visiting the area, the secretary of the Russian Security Council, Nikolai Patrushev, warned that Russia “will undoubtedly react to these hostile actions” and anticipated that the possible measures would cause a “serious negative impact” on the Lithuanian population, although he did not specify what they would be. These would represent a response to the blockade imposed by the EU on products such as steel and other ferrous metals, cement, alcohol and fertilizers.

The Russian authorities assure that traffic has been affected by both highways and railways and that the blockade reaches other basic products, accusations that were denied by Vilnius.

Lithuanian Prime Minister Ingrida Simonyte stated that the restrictions affect only products included in the latest EU punishment package and that “the transport of all other goods that are not sanctioned or not yet subject to sanctions continues, while just like passenger traffic.

The president pointed out that the Russian complaints are part of her propaganda campaign and ironized about Moscow’s complaints about the alleged violation of the agreement for Kaliningrad, signed between Russia and the EU when Lithuania joined the bloc in 2002. “I don’t know if Is there any international treaty that Russia has not yet violated,” Simonyte questioned. […]

According to the Russian Government, the EU measures violate the 1994 Partnership and Cooperation Agreement and the 2002 Joint Declaration on transit between Kaliningrad and the rest of the territory of the Russian Federation. Läs artikel