The European Union last week said the transit ban only affected road, not rail, transit, and Lithuania should therefore allow Russia to ship some goods across EU territory to the exclave.
"It is possible that some goods will be transported today," RIA quoted Mantas Dubauskas, spokesman for the state railway company, as telling Lithuanian TV.
Lithuania restricted railroad transit of goods from mainland Russia to Kaliningrad in June, citing EU sanctions. On July 13, the Commission published guidelines clarifying that the sanctions imposed on Russia should not apply to rail transit, provided due controls. Simonyte said Vilnius would continue the existing restrictions until new regulations are worked out based on the Commission's guidelines.
On June 18, Lithuanian Railways halted transit of some goods sanctioned by the European Union to Kaliningrad. The Russian Foreign Ministry summoned EU Ambassador to Moscow Markus Ederer and demanded that transit be resumed immediately, vowing to apply retaliatory measures otherwise.
ZZ/PR
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