Lithuania lifts blockade on Russian route to Kaliningrad.
Kaliningrad is on the Baltic Sea and uses a rail link to Russia via Lithuania for passengers and freight.
Lithuania has lifted a ban on the rail transport of sanctioned goods in and out of the Russian area of Kaliningrad after a month of political turmoil.
Russia was enraged when Lithuania banned the transit of steel and other ferrous metals under EU sanctions last month and threatened to respond.
But now Lithuanian Railways says it will resume transporting goods to the exclave.
Kaliningrad – a strategic region where Russia’s Baltic Fleet is headquartered – has no border with mainland Russia.
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Lithuania lifts blockade
Lithuania lifts blockade independently of the EU.
The European Union last week said the transit ban only affected road, not rail, transit, and Lithuania should therefore allow Russia to ship concrete, wood and alcohol across EU territory to Kaliningrad.
Russia’s Tass news agency cited a Kaliningrad government official as saying 60 wagons of cement would soon be shipped into the territory.
For supplies, Kaliningrad has been heavily reliant on transit routes through Lithuania.
However, last month Lithuania began implementing EU sanctions on certain Russian goods – including construction materials – in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. It would not allow the goods to transit through Lithuanian territory to Kaliningrad.
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