Moscow warning on Lithuania’s blockade

MOSCOW threatened retaliations against Lithuania last night after the Baltic state stopped EU-sanctioned goods reaching the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad.

The Kremlin warned the Nato member of ‘very tough actions’ over the rail blockade, fuelling fears that the alliance could be dragged into the war.

Russian senator Andrey Klimov labelled it a ‘direct aggression… forcing us to immediately resort to proper self-defence’. And the foreign ministry said it considered the ‘provocative measures… to be openly hostile’.

Kaliningrad, with a population of 437,000, is surrounded by Lithuania to the north and east and Poland to the south. Trains with goods for province travel from Russia via Belarus and Lithuania.

Lithuanian foreign minister Gabrielius Landsbergis said that in banning the transit of some goods his country was simply implementing EU sanctions.

Goods on the list include steel but are set to be expanded to cover items from coal to alcohol.

It came as president Volodymyr Zelensky warned Russia would intensify attacks on Ukraine this week ahead of an EU decision on Kyiv’s bid to join the bloc.