Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register VILNIUS, July 11 (Reuters) – Lithuania on Monday extended restrictions on trade through its territory to Russia’s Baltic enclave of Kaliningrad, as phased sanctions announced earlier by the European Union against Moscow over its incursion came into effect. in Ukraine. Additional goods banned from Monday morning include concrete, wood, alcohol and alcohol-based industrial chemicals, a Lithuanian customs spokesman said. Russia warned Lithuania and the European Union on Friday that it could take “tough measures” against them if the transit of some goods to and from Kaliningrad does not resume “within the next few days.” read more Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register On Monday, Kaliningrad’s regional governor proposed a total ban on land traffic between Russia and the EU’s three Baltic member states, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia, to push them to use Kaliningrad’s ports. read more “This will provide activities for (our) sea carriers and give work to Kaliningrad’s ports, which have been hit hard by EU restrictions,” Governor Anton Alikhanov said. EU trade restrictions have been upgraded as governments, markets and companies worry that Russia may choose to extend the shutdown of the largest single pipeline carrying Russian gas to Germany beyond a planned 10-day maintenance period. read more
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Kaliningrad borders NATO and EU member states Lithuania and Poland and relies on railways and roads through Lithuania for most goods. The coastal region has been cut off from some freight traffic from mainland Russia since June 17 under the EU sanctions regime. Goods that fall under humanitarian or essential categories, such as food, are exempt from sanctions. The row over Kaliningrad’s isolation is testing Europe’s resolve to enforce sanctions amid fears of an escalating confrontation with Russia after other restrictions pushed Moscow into bankruptcy. read more EU officials, backed by Germany, sought in late June a quick compromise to resolve the standoff. But sources told Reuters that Lithuania, once ruled from Moscow within the old Soviet Union, had serious reservations about making what could be seen as a concession to the Kremlin. Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register Reporting by Andrius Sytas in Vilnius Editing by Anna Ringstrom and Mark Heinrich Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
