“Emphasis was made on the situation regarding the illegal restrictions that Lithuania imposed on the transit of goods to the Kaliningrad region. Some possible joint measures were discussed in this context,” the Kremlin press service stated.

The leaders addressed current issues of bilateral trade and economic cooperation via telephone, and reaffirmed their mutual willingness to strengthen Russian-Belarussian partnership and alliance relations.

Since June 18th, the Lithuanian authorities have gradually imposed restrictions on the transit of goods specified in the fifth package of sanctions of the European Union (EU) between the province of Kaliningrad, located between Lithuania and Poland, and the rest of Russia.

Faced with this new measure of economic suffocation, the Kaliningrad authorities suggested on Monday that the commercial flows that transit by railway between Russia and the Baltic countries (Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania) be diverted to the enclave’s ports.

“We propose as a countermeasure the total ban on the transit of goods, including those transiting from third countries, between the three Baltic countries and Russia, with an exception made for the Kaliningrad province,” regional governor Anton Alikhanov published in Telegram.

The official argued that the measure “would give work to shipping companies and ports in Kaliningrad, heavily affected by the EU’s sanctions.” Also, shipping rates should be adjusted to those that apply within the Russian railway sector.

The Russian Foreign Ministry confirmed at the end of last week that the government will apply retaliatory measures against Vilnius and the EU if rail traffic between Kaliningrad and the rest of the country is not unblocked soon.

pgh/llp/mem/odf