Lithuanian authorities said a ban on transit through their territory to the Kaliningrad Russian exclave of goods subject to EU sanctions would take effect on Saturday.
News of the ban came Friday through a video posted by the region’s governor Anton Alikhanov.
The EU sanctions list mainly includes coal, metals, construction materials and advanced technology, and Alikhanov said the ban would cover about 50% of the items Kaliningrad imports.
Its immediate launch was confirmed by the cargo arm of Lithuania’s state railway service in a letter to customers following “clarification” by the European Commission on the mechanism for applying the sanctions.
Alikhanov urged citizens not to panic, saying two vessels had already transported goods between Kaliningrad and St. Petersburg, and another seven would be in service by the end of the year.
“Our ferries will handle all the cargo,” he said on Saturday.
A spokesman for Lithuania’s railway service confirmed the contents of the letter but declined to comment further. The Foreign Ministry did not respond to a request from Reuters for comment.
Lithuanian Deputy Foreign Minister Mantas Adomenas told the public broadcaster his institution was awaiting “clarification from the European Commission on the application of European sanctions to Kaliningrad freight.”
Kaliningrad, which is sandwiched between EU and NATO members Poland and Lithuania, receives supplies from Russia via rail and gas pipelines through Lithuania.
The home of Russia’s Baltic Navy headquarters, it was captured by Nazi Germany by the Red Army in April 1945 and ceded to the Soviet Union after World War II.
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