BRUSSELS (Reuters) – The European Union executive said on Wednesday that sanctioned Russian goods could transit through the bloc’s territory by rail, after tensions between Moscow and EU member Lithuania escalated over trade with Russia’s Kaliningrad exclave.
“The transit of sanctioned goods by road with Russian operators is not allowed under the EU measures. No such similar prohibition exists for rail transport,” said the European Commission, adding that EU states should check such trains.
“The Commission underlines the importance of monitoring the two-way trade flows between Russia and Kaliningrad … to ensure that sanctioned goods cannot enter the EU customs territory.”
The Commission added that transport of sanctioned military and dual-use goods was prohibited regardless of mode of transport.
Lithuania drew ire from Moscow in recent weeks over restricting trade going through its territory to Russia’s Baltic exclave of Kaliningrad after the European Union slapped sanctions against Moscow for waging a war with Ukraine.
The Kremlin said on Wednesday it was expecting progress over a possible European Union deal to allow Russia to transit some sanctioned goods to Kaliningrad, but that the problem had not been resolved.
(Writing by Gabriela Baczynska; Editing by John Chalmers and Philippa Fletcher)
