Russia will be able to supply the Kaliningrad region with goods by rail through the Lithuanian transport corridor. This recommendation was given by the European Commission. Izvestia correspondent Georgy Grivenny tried to understand the conditions.
“This decision, which removes the restriction on the transit of certain nomenclature transported by rail, is a manifestation of realism and common sense. We have questions about the content of this document.“, – said the official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry Maria Zakharova.
Rail transportation to the Kaliningrad region of oil and oil products, coal, steel, iron, wood, cement and other non-military goods is not prohibited. But, as noted, their transit should be the subject of targeted, proportionate and effective control by the authorities of the EU countries.
Road transportation through Lithuania is allowed only for those goods that are not included in the sanctions list.
On July 13, clarifications of the European Commission on the transit of prohibited goods were published. They indicate that rail transit to the Kaliningrad region is permitted subject to a number of conditions.
On the same day, Lithuania evaluated the recommendations of the European Commission on transit to Kaliningrad.
Prior to this, the Lithuanian authorities handed over to the European Commission a document with their position regarding transit to the Kaliningrad region through the territory of the republic.
The ban on the transit of a number of goods to the Kaliningrad region from Lithuania came into force at midnight on June 18. Vilnius explained it by the implementation of the fifth package of sanctions against the Russian Federation. The restrictions concerned transportation by rail, but Lithuania also extended it to trucks. On the same day, the governor of the Kaliningrad region, Anton Alikhanov, called such a decision illegal.
A number of states, including all EU countries, are imposing new sanctions against the Russian Federation in response to a special operation carried out by Moscow since February 24 to protect the Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics (DPR and LPR). Its beginning was preceded by the aggravation of the situation in the region, the appeal of the leadership of the Donbass republics to the Russian Federation with a request for help and the subsequent recognition by Russia of the independence of the DPR and LPR.
For more up-to-date videos and details about the situation in Donbass, watch the Izvestia TV channel.
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