“They will have a serious negative impact on the population of Lithuania”: Patrushev announced an imminent response to the blockade of Kaliningrad

Moscow will soon respond to Vilnius on the decision to ban the transit of a number of goods coming from Russian regions to the Kaliningrad region.

This was announced by the Secretary of the Security Council of the Russian Federation Nikolai Patrushev at a meeting in Kaliningrad on topical issues of national security in the North-Western Federal District of Russia.

According to him, the situation in the Northwestern Federal District is being formed against the background of NATO's build-up of "military and intelligence presence near the state border of Russia", as well as under pressure from the West in the political, informational and economic spheres.

“The latest example of this is the blockade by Lithuania, at the suggestion of Western countries, in violation of the norms and principles of international law, of the transit through its territory to the Kaliningrad region of a large group of goods.

This example shows that one cannot trust not only the oral statements of the West, but also written ones.

Russia will certainly react to such hostile actions.

Appropriate measures are being worked out in an interdepartmental format and will be taken in the near future.

Their consequences will have a serious negative impact on the population of Lithuania, ”said Patrushev, whose words are quoted by RIA Novosti.

Patrushev arrived in Kaliningrad on a working trip.

According to the press service of the Security Council apparatus, the trip was planned and was scheduled even before the introduction of restrictions on transit to the Kaliningrad region by Lithuania.

Patrushev also met with Governor Anton Alikhanov and Presidential Envoy to the Northwestern Federal District Alexander Gutsan.

They, in particular, discussed issues related to the restriction of cargo transit between the Kaliningrad region and the territory of "big" Russia.

On June 21, European Union Ambassador to Russia Markus Ederer was summoned to Smolenskaya Square.

Following the charge d'affaires of Lithuania, he was strongly protested in connection with the introduction of a ban on cargo transit between the Kaliningrad region and the rest of the territory of the Russian Federation.

“They demanded the immediate restoration of the normal functioning of the Kaliningrad transit.

Otherwise, retaliatory measures will follow,” the statement says.

Also on russian.rt.com EU Ambassador Ederer: in the situation with transit, we are not talking about the blockade of the Kaliningrad region

In Lithuania, they must understand the consequences that their “openly hostile” behavior will lead to, said Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova on June 21 on Soloviev LIVE.

According to her, in Vilnius they went "beyond the limits of behavior that is contrary to international law."

The representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry also pointed out that the actions of Lithuania only exacerbate the problem of food security.

“I would like to draw your attention to the fact that these are not only deliveries from the territory of Russia to the territory of the EU countries.

These are transit deliveries and through the territory of the European Union, and a lot of things went in transit, including to ports, which then served various regions of the world.

That is, a country of the collective West, a country that is a member of NATO, a country that is a member of all Euro-Atlantic ties today creates additional difficulties against the background of the fact that this community blames this on a country that is not related to the problem of food security, ”explained Zakharova.

At the same time, the Ministry of Economic Development of the Kaliningrad Region has published a complete list of goods that are prohibited from being transported in transit through the territory of Lithuania.

The list is defined by the latest edition of EU Council Regulation No. 833/2014.

In particular, the transportation of technological installations for the liquefaction of natural gas, jet fuel and additives to it, and goods for the aviation or space industry is prohibited.

On June 18, Lithuania stopped the rail transit of goods subject to EU sanctions to the Kaliningrad region.

Under the ban were 40-50% of the range of goods.

Vilnius stressed that the transit ban was introduced after consultations with the European Commission and on its recommendations.

As the governor of the Kaliningrad region Anton Alikhanov noted earlier, the ferry complex will cope with the new volumes of freight traffic.

According to him, transport companies are ready to provide the region with additional ships on the Baltiysk-Ust-Luga line within a week.

He assured that there would be no shortage of goods in the region.

The Kremlin called the decision of the Lithuanian side "a violation of everything and everything", indicating that it would take several days to analyze and develop response actions.