One of President Vladimir Putin’s main allies has warned Lithuania that Russia would respond to the stoppage of EU-sanctioned freight traffic in the Kaliningrad enclave.
Key points:
- Russia’s Security Council secretary says Lithuania’s “hostile” actions show that Russia could not trust the West
- Kaliningrad, the capital of East Prussia, was captured from Nazi Germany by the Red Army in April 1945 and ceded to the Soviet Union after World War II.
- It is located between NATO members Poland and Lithuania
Nikolai Patrushev, a former KGB spy who is now the secretary of the Russian Security Council, added that he would respond in such a way that NATO citizens and members of the European Union would feel the pain.
With East-West relations at least half a century after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on February 24, Lithuania banned the transit of EU-sanctioned goods through its territory to and from the enclave. citing EU sanctions rules.
Patrushev said Lithuania’s “hostile” actions showed that Russia could not trust the West.
“Russia will certainly respond to these hostile actions,” Patrushev was quoted as saying by the state-run RIA news agency.
“The appropriate measures are being developed in an interdepartmental format and will be taken in the near future.
“Its consequences will have a serious negative impact on the population of Lithuania.”
Kaliningrad, formerly the port of Koenigsberg, the capital of East Prussia, was captured from Nazi Germany by the Red Army in April 1945 and ceded to the Soviet Union after World War II.
It is located between NATO members Poland and Lithuania.
Lithuania said banning the transit of goods sanctioned by its territory was only the application of EU sanctions, part of a series of measures aimed at punishing Mr Putin for invading Ukraine.
Russia’s Foreign Ministry has summoned EU Ambassador to Moscow Markus Ederer over the situation, which the Kremlin said on Monday was more than serious.
“Lithuania is not taking unilateral action, it is implementing EU sanctions,” Ederer was quoted as saying by RIA.
Read more about the Russian invasion of Ukraine:
EU calls on Russia to refrain from “intensive steps”
The EU envoy to Moscow on Tuesday urged Russia to refrain from “intensive steps and rhetoric” over what Moscow calls “anti-Russian restrictions” on goods transiting between Kaliningrad and the rest of Russia. say an EU spokesman.
“He conveyed our position on Russia’s aggression against Ukraine and explained that Lithuania is implementing EU sanctions and there is no blockade, and urged them to refrain from escalating steps and rhetoric,” he said. spokesman Peter Stano.
Russia’s Foreign Ministry, which convened the bloc’s ambassador to Moscow on Tuesday, called for “immediate” resumption of traffic in the region and vowed retaliation if the situation did not improve.
Lithuania, an EU member, has closed a rail corridor from Russia to its enclave to certain basic goods, including building materials, metals and coal, in response to new EU sanctions that came into force on Saturday.
Space to play or pause, M to mute, left and right arrows to search, up and down arrows for volume. Clock time: 2 minutes 14 seconds 2 m 14 s Parts of eastern Ukraine pulverized by Russian bombing.
Reuters