Lithuania’s state railways have banned the transit of sanctioned Russian goods to and from the exclave of Kaliningrad, Anton Alikhanov, the region’s governor, said on Friday.
In a post on Telegram, he said the ban would affect up to half of products imported and exported through Lithuania.
“We consider this to be a most serious violation [...] of the right to free transit into and out of Kaliningrad region,” he was quoted by the Reuters news agency. Alikhanov said he was informed of the ban, due to come into effect on Saturday midnight, by a letter sent from Lithuania’s state railways.
Kaliningrad is wedged between Poland and Lithuania and has a rail connection to the Russian mainland via Vilnius.
There has been no official confirmation from Lithuania’s authorities, but the state railway service has confirmed to Reuters the authenticity of the letter.
On Saturday, Deputy Foreign Minister Mantas Adomėnas said “we are currently awaiting clarification from the European Commission on the application of the European sanctions regime to Kaliningrad's goods transit”.
Vilnius officials have previously said the country could not cut off Russian transit, as the agreement was made between Brussels and Moscow.
Newsletter
Every Friday morning.
