Germany Outraged by Lithuania's Blockade of Russian Shipments to Kaliningrad, Reports Suggest

BERLIN (Sputnik) - The German government is dismayed by Lithuania blocking the transit of goods from mainland Russia to its exclave of Kaliningrad and urges Vilnius to lift the ban, German newspaper Spiegel reported on Friday, citing insights.

According to the newspaper, the German federal government disagrees with Lithuania's position that the transit of sanctioned goods to Kaliningrad should not be carried out through EU territory. Berlin believes that "transport from Russia to Russia" must be allowed.

The European Union banned Russia-registered trucks in early April but made an exemption for those transiting to Kaliningrad, which is located on the Baltic Sea coast. The current restrictions on the transit of Russian goods, announced by Lithuania, apply to all transit of goods sanctioned by the EU. Lithuanian Railways notified the Kaliningrad region's railway of halting the transit of a number of goods subject to EU sanctions on June 18.

Last week, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that Russia is considering various options for responding to Lithuania's "unfriendly" move. Kaliningrad Region Governor Anton Alikhanov said that the restrictions would not affect transit of oil products at least until August 10 and that the region would mobilize its ferry fleet to compensate for railroad cargo cuts.