Photo: Gennady Cherkasov
The temporary Charge d’affaires of Lithuania in the Russian Federation, Virginia Umbrasene, has been summoned to the Russian Foreign Ministry. On Smolenskaya Square, she was protested in connection with the ban on the transit of a number of goods through the territory of Lithuania to the Kaliningrad region.
As a result, Moscow issued an ultimatum to Vilnius. The Russian Federation demands the lifting of the ban on the transit of goods. Otherwise, Moscow reserves the right to take retaliatory actions “to protect its national interests”. The Russian Foreign Ministry also indicated that they regard these provocative measures of Lithuania as “openly hostile”.
On Monday, the press secretary of the President of Russia Dmitry Peskov commented on Lithuania’s decision to block transit to the Kaliningrad region. He called the decision taken by the authorities of the Baltic country “truly unprecedented”. According to him, this is a “violation of everything and everything”, according to a message on the agency’s website.
Meanwhile, the Lithuanian Foreign Ministry said it had imposed a ban on the transit of sanctioned goods to Kaliningrad after consultations with the European Commission.