Foreign Ministry has yet to officially receive Russia's decision to close certain railway border crossing points

RIGA - The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has not yet officially received Russia’s decision to close certain railway border crossings with Latvia, Estonia and Finland, Foreign Ministry Press Secretary Diana Eglite told LETA.

The ministry estimates that the impact of Russia’s decision to close the Karsava border crossing point will be minimal, given its low volume of freight traffic. The Foreign Ministry emphasized that the Zilupe railway border crossing and the road border crossings in Terehova and Grebneva remain open on the Latvian-Russian border.

The ministry reminds the public that, since the start of the war, it has regularly called for a halt to trade with Russia, the aggressor state, and its ally, Belarus. The ministry is also currently moving forward with a bill that would ban the import of certain industrial goods from Russia and Belarus.

As reported, effective July 1, 2026, the Russian government has ordered the temporary suspension of the movement of persons, vehicles, goods, and cargo through railway border crossing points on certain sections of the Russian Federation's state border, in accordance with the list provided in the appendix, the Russian government informs.

Most of the border crossing points being closed are on the border with Finland.

Rail traffic has also been completely suspended through the Pechory-Pskov border crossing on the Estonian border, as well as through the Pytalovo border crossing on the border with Latvia. The Pytalovo border crossing is located on the Rezekne-Karsava-Pytalovo railway line, which connects Latvia with Russia's Pskov Oblast.

Traffic has effectively been suspended only at the Pechory-Pskov and Pytalovo border crossing points, as Russia's border with Finland had already been completely closed based on a decision by Helsinki.

No reasons have been given for the closure of the border crossing points.

The Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has been tasked with notifying the governments of Finland, Estonia, and Latvia of this decision.