The European Union wants to stop a potential sanctions-circumvention, not to stop maritime traffic between Kaliningrad and Russia. Josep Borrell, the head of EU diplomacy, made this announcement during a speech on June 23 in Brussels.
“The situation with Kaliningrad is not a blockade. We don’t want to block traffic between Kaliningrad and Russia, but at the same time we need control to prevent circumvention of sanctions imposed by the EU. And this must be done at the same time, it is possible,” he said.
On June 18, at midnight, a prohibition on the transportation of goods from Lithuania to the Kaliningrad area went into effect.
It was introduced as part of the fifth package of anti-Russian measures of the EU members.
On June 20, Borrell said that Lithuania was just adhering to EU sanctions and that Kaliningrad was not being blocked.
He emphasized that both people and products are still being transported between Kaliningrad and other parts of Russia. Only the movement of those goods—whose export, import, and transit across EU territory is forbidden by sanctions—has been halted.