The European Commission (EC) is likely to publish updated guidelines on the Kaliningrad transit sanctions this week, Lithuanian Prime Minister Ingrida Šimonytė has said.
On Wednesday, Russia’s state news agency RIA Novosti, citing the pro-Kremlin newspaper Izvestia, reported that the European Union and Russia have reached an agreement to exempt the transit of goods to Kaliningrad from the EU sanctions.
Lithuanian Prime Minister Ingrida Šimonytė refused to comment on the information provided by the Russian media but said the EC is expected to publish new guidelines soon.
“I’m certainly not going to comment on the Russian information. But what I can say is that it is likely that the EC will publish its updated guidelines at some point this week,” the prime minister said on Wednesday.
She did not comment on the content of the updated guidelines on the Kaliningrad transit sanctions.
“You will see it when it is published because these are the Commission’s guidelines,” Šimonytė said, adding that the document is not a joint agreement between Lithuania and the EC.
“This is the EC’s document, which it will publish as it sees fit. That does not mean that we have not made our observations on it. But, again, the document is EC’s, and it would be best for it to be commented on by whoever is going to publish it,” the prime minister said.
In mid-June, Lithuania imposed restrictions on the transit of some Russian goods to its Kaliningrad exclave as part of the fourth EU sanctions package on Moscow. The Kremlin said Lithuania was carrying out a “Kaliningrad blockade” and threatened to retaliate. The EC has then promised to clarify the guidelines on the sanctions’ application to the Kaliningrad transit.
Read more: Lithuania and Kaliningrad – updates
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