The rules for the transit of goods from Russia to the Kaliningrad region through the territory of Lithuania can be adjusted in the seventh package of EU sanctions, informs Bloomberg.
According to the agency, the European Union is considering the possibility of easing sanctions against the transportation of Russian goods to the Kaliningrad region through Lithuania.
In July, new restrictions on Russian goods will begin to operate, and the European Commission, as the agency specifies, seeks to coordinate all aspects of sanctions with Vilnius in order to avoid aggravating the situation on the part of Russia. One of the agency’s sources emphasized that the rules for applying sanctions should apply to the entire EU, and not just to Lithuania.
On June 18, Lithuania restricted the transit of a number of goods from Russia to the Kaliningrad region by rail through its territory. The Lithuanian side explained its decision by the terms of the EU sanctions, which were adopted on March 15, 2022 as part of the fourth package of sanctions against the Russian Federation.
Governor of the Kaliningrad region Anton Alikhanov called the actions of the Lithuanian authorities illegal and estimated a decrease in the import of Russian goods, including coal, metals, cement, wood, building materials and high-tech products, by rail at 40-50%.
Press Secretary of the President of the Russian Federation Dmitry Peskov called the decision of the Lithuanian authorities “unprecedented and illegal”, stressing that the restriction of the transit of goods is “an element of the blockade of the Russian region.”
