Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Wednesday that the country’s response to Lithuania’s ban on the transit of Russian goods subject to EU sanctions through Lithuanian territory and towards the enclave Russian Kaliningrad (between Poland and Lithuania) will not just be “diplomatic”.
“One of the main questions has been whether the answer would be exclusively diplomatic. The answer: no. The answer will not be diplomatic, but practical,” said Zakharova, who did not give details on what those measures would be.
The ban on transit of certain goods, sanctioned by the EU due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, was adopted last weekend. In practice, a military retaliation by the Kremlin would represent an escalation in the conflict in Eastern Europe, as Lithuania is part of NATO, the Western military alliance, which stipulates that an aggression against a member country is an attack on the entire organization.
In an interview with Reuters, Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda said the country was ready for some form of retaliation from Russia.
“We are ready and prepared for some kind of hostile action on the Russian side, disconnection of the BRELL system [rede elétrica compartilhada por
Rússia, Belarus e os países bálticos] or other actions,” said Nauseda, who said she did not believe the Russian response would include military action.
The Lithuanian president highlighted, however, that the blockade stems from sanctions “imposed at the level of the European Union”. [da qual a Lituânia também
faz parte]and this has nothing to do with bilateral relations between Russia and Lithuania”.
“We are waiting to implement the next steps of the sanctions, and it would be very good if the European Commission explained the content of the sanctions to the Russian authorities, which would probably ease some of the tensions that are arising now,” he argued.
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