Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Lithuania’s decision to ban the transit of material sanctioned to Russia through the Kaliningrad region is “unprecedented” and Russia considers it “illegal”.
This decision is truly unprecedented. This is a violation of everything, ”Peskov told reporters during a regular conference call on Monday.
“We also consider it illegal, the Kremlin will need to carefully analyze the situation. It is certainly part of a blockade,” Peskov said.
The state-owned railway company Lithuanian Railways had informed Russia that from midnight on 18 June, transit trains with goods subject to EU sanctions would no longer be allowed to pass, Kaliningrad Region Governor Anton Alikhanov said in his telegram. Said on the channel. Friday.
According to Alikhanov, the list of banned goods includes building materials, cement, metals and “many other goods important for both construction and production”.
Some background: Lithuania’s decision is the latest by an EU member state to sanction Russia after its invasion of Ukraine in February.
At the end of May, the European Union agreed 90 percent ban European Council leaders said at the time, among other measures, about Russia’s oil imports by the end of the year.
“Agreement to ban Russian oil exports to the EU. This immediately covers more than 2/3 of oil imports from Russia, reducing a major source of financing for its war machine,” said Michel announced in a tweet,
Meanwhile in the United States, the White House announced another period of sanctions With a series of new financial and diplomatic sanctions in early June targeting Russian government officials and elite close to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The latest sanctions are designed to “tighten our sanctions to crack down on evasion and increase enforcement and increase pressure on Putin and his supporters,” the White House said in a statement.
CNN’s Niamh Kennedy, Jeremy Diamond, Betsy Klein and Kate Sullivan contributed reporting on this post.