Lukashenka orders quick application of counter-sanctions against Lithuania in case transit of Belarusian goods is stopped

January 31, BPN. Lithuania may stop the transit of Belarusian goods and their transshipment in the port, but in response Belarus would “implement its measures” against this country, Aliaksandr Lukašenka said on January 31 at a meeting with Prime Minister Raman Haloŭčanka and the heads of Belaruskali Ivan Halavaty and Belarusian Potash Company Aliena Kudraviec.

“If Lithuania does not want to let our cargo into the port and transship it in the port, well, that’s their right,” Lukašenka was quoted as saying by his press service. “If this happens, Raman Aliaksandravič, it means that within a few days the measures that we have agreed upon with regard to Lithuania should be implemented. I just want the Lithuanians to understand. These are pressing issues right now, they are grabbing at everything and starting to accuse me. I want to stress once again: we are not starting anything there that would bring us into a clash with Lithuania, Latvia, Poland or Ukraine. We do not need it.”

“Moreover, as I said on Friday [in the address to the nation and the parliament], I don’t care whether to save face or not… If they need to save face – let them come out and negotiate. We are ready to negotiate. But if they continue to press us, it means that we would use the plan that we have. Afterwards they should not be offended. The people of Lithuania, Poland, and other countries must understand that we are simply responding to these challenges,” he added.

Lithuanian Railways (LZD) spokesperson Mantas Dubauskas said earlier in the day that the last train with the Belarusian fertilizers was expected to enter Lithuania on January 31 at around 7-8 pm in order to reach the port of Klaipeda by midnight, when the transit under the agreement between LZD and Belaruskali would be stopped.

In his address to the nation and the parliament on January 28, Aliaksandr Lukašenka stated that “one must speak harshly but pragmatically with Lithuania, enforcing the treaty obligations and responding to their actions proportionately.”

He stated that Belarus could block Lithuanian cargo transit not only through Belarus, but also through Russia: “We’ll agree with Russia now, and no cargo would be loaded there, we will load all Russian and Belarusian cargos in Russian ports. Transports will stop, we will not let your exports via Belarus, you will forget this road. We will come to an agreement with Russia, and you will not be able to use other roads.”

Lithuanian Prime Minister Ingrida Šimonytė said on January 31 that lawyers had assessed the risks of terminating the transit agreement between LZD and Belaruskali “very carefully.”