Lithuania refuses to agree to concessions on transit of Russian goods via Kaliningrad

In an escalatory move that could provoke the Russia-NATO conflict, Lithuania on Sunday refused to agree on giving any concessions on the ban of the transit of Russian goods through the neighbouring Kaliningrad enclave. “Lithuania must and will maintain control over the goods transported through its territory, and there can be no talk of any ‘corridors,’ as well as concessions to Russia in response to the Kremlin’s threats,” Lithuania’s President Gitanas Nauseda said in a post on Sunday.

Nauseda furthermore stressed that Kaliningrad transit has been freely operating since 2004 when Lithuania joined the European Union, and that the transit terms and conditions were discussed in the EU-Russia agreement.

'Implementing fourth package of EU sanctions': Lithuania President Gitanas Nauseda

Blatic state Lithuania proposed that the EU is not unilaterally responsible for the implementation of sanctions. "What's new in this topic is that the European Union and Lithuania [are both cooperatively] and actively participating in implementing the fourth package of sanctions against Russia, '' said the Lithuanian leader. Kaliningrad is situated on the Baltic Sea and also widely uses the rail link to Russia via Lithuania, which according to Moscow has been blocked by Lithuania. 

Lithuanian leader also discussed the issue with President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen in Brussels. "It is absolutely clear that Lithuania must implement and will implement EU sanctions," he once again clarified. Nauseda added that Lithuania must maintain and will maintain control of goods transported through its territory and "there can be no talk of any corridor" or "any thought of degrading Russia in response to Kremlin's threats. I would clearly explain to the chairman of the EC how Lithuania sees this situation," said the Blatic state's president. 

Lithuanian Prime Minister Ingrida Simonyte earlier also rejected the claim at a state conference that her country blocked the rail route saying that it banned the transit of steel and other ferrous metals in accordance with the EU sanctions only.  And that this measure does not involve the rail and freights for passengers, although an estimated 1% Russian travellers were impacted. 

"Lithuania is complying with the sanctions imposed by the European Union on Russia for its aggression and war against Ukraine," the PM said. 

While Russia warned that it is "fully determined" to retaliate against the unilateral transit blockade of its goods via Kaliningrad by Baltic state Lithuania, it added that it will “not rush to make decisions.”Russia President Vladimir Putin’s spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told Tass that Moscow’s stance is “absolutely correct” with respect to the Kaliningrad issue, which in fact is a provocation. But he added, saying that there’s “no need to rush here.”  Although Peskov iterated that at the same time, Russia has been “full of determination and will take some time before certain decisions are made.”  

"We are analysing this situation in a most serious way. Via the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, we are delivering our [position] to our opponents," said Putin’s spokesperson Peskov. "In this situation, we are absolutely right.” "Regretfully, they are not our partners any longer, they are our opponents now," he added.