After a meeting in the region, which is stuck between Lithuania and Poland, 800 miles from Moscow, Nikolai Patrushev reinforced the rhetoric by threatening “serious consequences”. “Russia will certainly respond to such hostile actions,” Patrushev said. “Appropriate measures… will be taken in the near future. Their consequences will have a serious negative impact on the population of Lithuania.” Over the weekend, Lithuania’s state-owned railway told Russian customers it could no longer transport steel or iron ore across the EU to Kaliningrad, in the Baltic Sea. Goods banned from entering the EU on the basis of sanctions imposed after Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine include Russian coal, metals, building materials and advanced technology. Just under half of the goods that cross Lithuania on about 100 train routes each month are subject to EU sanctions, although there are different dates for their entry into force. The oil ban will not be implemented until December as part of a compromise between the 27 EU member states. Activists protesting outside the Lithuanian embassy in Moscow on June 21 against train curbs in Kaliningrad are displaying posters reading “Closing the border? “Our army is visa-free” and “Lithuania in line for democratization”. Photo: Maxim Shipenkov / EPA The announcement of the railways sparked some panic shopping in Kaliningrad and an angry response from Moscow, with officials accusing Lithuania of violating transit agreements reached in 2004. The European Commission said Lithuania was acting legally, although EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said on Monday it would “double check” on what appeared to be an attempt to remove the sting from the conflict. Patrushev, one of Putin’s closest aides, was speaking after a meeting in Kaliningrad, and earlier on Tuesday the Russian Foreign Ministry summoned EU Ambassador to Moscow Markus Enterrer about “anti-Russian restrictions.” “The inadmissibility of such actions, which violate the relevant legal and political obligations of the European Union and lead to escalation of tension, was noted,” the ministry said in a statement. Speaking shortly after the meeting, Enterer said he called on the Russian government to “remain calm” and “resolve the issue diplomatically,” the Russian news agency Tass reported. Kaliningrad, home to the Russian Baltic Sea Fleet, has a population of about 500,000. It was occupied by Nazi Germany by the Red Army in April 1945 and ceded to the Soviet Union at the end of the war.
