War in Ukraine Lithuania begins to isolate Kaliningrad and Russia promises to respond
Russia has promised to take "serious" measures against
Lithuania
in response to the blockade of the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad.
As part of the EU sanctions imposed on Moscow over the war, Lithuania has restricted rail transit through its territory to the Russian enclave, sparking a new crisis between the Kremlin and the EU.
"Russia, of course, will react to these hostile acts. Measures are being prepared and will be adopted soon. They will have serious consequences for the population of Lithuania," Nikolai Patruchev, secretary of the Russian Security Council, said during a visit to Kaliningrad.
The Kremlin yesterday described Lithuania's decision to ban the passage of some goods into the Russian region as "illegal" and "unprecedented."
According to the spokesman for the Russian Security Council, Evgueni Anoshin, Patrushev discussed with the Kaliningrad authorities the "problems of transport accessibility" to this region.
Kaliningrad, formerly Konigsberg, is an enclave that is cut off from the rest of Russia and borders two EU and NATO countries, Lithuania and Poland.
The governor of Kaliningrad, Anton Alikhanov, estimated that the blocked cargoes constitute between 40% and 50% of the total imports of the territory.
Alikhanov admitted that the Lithuanian authorities informed the Kaliningrad railway service about his decision, which officially came into force at midnight from Friday to Saturday.
Conforms to The Trust Project criteria
Know more