Lithuania can't cut off transit of Russian trains to Kaliningrad – minister

VILNIUS – Lithuania cannot unilaterally cut off the transit of trains from mainland Russia to the exclave of Kaliningrad, Transport Minister Marius Skuodis said on Wednesday. 

"As for unilateral decisions on the Kaliningrad transit, such a thing is probably not theoretically possible, because this is an agreement between the European Union and Russia," he told journalists.

If imposed, an EU embargo on Russian and Belarusian trucks would not apply to Kaliningrad, according to the minister.

"There are currently discussions on banning Russian and Belarusian trucks from entering the EU's territory, and an exception is made for Kaliningrad," he said. 

Prime Minister Ingrida Simonyte also told the public broadcaster LRT on Tuesday that Lithuania could not unilaterally stop the Kaliningrad transit, but added that 

"it cannot be said that consultations are not taking place on the topic".

A hundred Russian transit trains pass through Lithuania monthly on average.