Lithuania Halts Transport of Sanctioned Goods Across Rail Lines to Kaliningrad
Lithuania barred transport of EU-sanctioned goods via rail lines through its land to the Russian region of Kaliningrad, The Washington Post reported. The Russian government said June 21 that Lithuania would face "serious" consequences for the move. The Lithuanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said June 20 that the transit of passengers and goods not covered by EU sanctions will continue uninterrupted. The Foreign Ministry pointed to the fourth package of EU sanctions to discuss the trade that had been halted between Lithuania and Kaliningrad -- a Russian area that houses Moscow's Baltic Sea Fleet but has no land connection to the rest of the country -- and that includes steel and other ferrous metal products.
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LTG, Lithuania's state-owned rail company, announced it will no longer ship Russian goods under EU sanctions, including coal, metals and construction materials, to Kaliningrad, The Washington Post said. Josep Borrell, the EU's foreign policy chief, rejected Russia's characterization of the move as a "blockade," saying at a news conference that transit between Kaliningrad and the rest of Russia has not been stopped and Lithuania has not imposed any unilateral sanctions.