Lithuania

VILNIUS, July 14 (Reuters) - European Union member Lithuania will keep restrictions on trade flows to the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad while it works out new rules, Prime Minister Ingrida Simonyte said on Thursday.

The European Commission said on Wednesday that sanctioned Russian goods could transit through the bloc's territory by rail to the enclave, after tensions between Moscow, Brussels and Lithuania escalated. 

SIAULIAI AIR BASE, Lithuania, July 6 (Reuters) - The Lithuanian government is set to transfer a Bayraktar TB2 combat drone, which was originally paid for by Lithuanian citizens via crowdfunding, to Ukraine on Wednesday evening, Lithuanian Defence Minister Arvydas Anusauskas said.

Lithuanians raised almost 6 million euros for the drone in May, largely in small donations, following which its Turkish maker, Baykar, decided to donate it instead. 

VILNIUS, June 18 (Reuters) - Lithuanian authorities said a ban on the transit through their territory to the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad of goods that are subject to EU sanctions was to take effect from Saturday.

News of the ban came on Friday, through a video posted by the region's governor Anton Alikhanov. 

The EU sanctions list notably includes coal, metals, construction materials and advanced technology, and Alikhanov said the ban would cover around 50% of the items that Kaliningrad imports.

VILNIUS, June 18 (Reuters) - Lithuanian authorities said a ban on the transit through their territory to the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad of goods that are subject to EU sanctions will take effect from Saturday.

News of the ban came on Friday, through a video posted by the region's governor Anton Alikhanov.

The EU sanctions list notably includes coal, metals, construction materials and advanced technology, and Alikhanov said the ban would cover around 50% of the items that Kaliningrad imports.

VILNIUS, May 15. /TASS/: Latvia has decided to suspend rail transit of Belarusian military cargo through the country's territory to its Baltic seaports, Latvian Ministry of Transport said on Sunday.

According to Delfi news website, starting from May 10, Latvia suspended the agreement that allowed direct rail transportation of military cargo from Belarus to third countries through Latvian ports.

The intergovernmental agreement on transportation of military goods by rail from Belarus to third countries using the ports of Latvia was signed in January 1994.

VILNIUS, May 12. /TASS/: The Latvian Saeima passed the final reading of a bill that suspends an agreement with Russia regarding monuments, it said in a statement on Thursday, referring to the legislation that potentially allows demolition of the monument to Soviet soldiers in Riga.

VILNIUS, May 12. /TASS/: Lithuania recalls its Ambassador to Russia Eitvydas Bajarunas since June 1, Lithuanian National Television and Radio reported Thursday.

According to the report, the recall of the envoy is included in a draft government decree, registered Thursday.

The Lithuanian government also intends to shut down the consulate general in St. Petersburg on June 7.

VILNIUS, April 4. /TASS/: The Russian ambassador in Vilnius will have to leave Lithuania as Lithuania is recalling its ambassador from Moscow, the Baltic country’s Foreign Minister, Gabrielius Landsbergis, told reporters on Monday.

"The Lithuanian government, in response to the ongoing aggressive actions of Russia in Ukraine, has decided to downgrade the status of the diplomatic mission," he said. "The Russian ambassador will have to leave Lithuania."

The Lithuanian ambassador in Moscow "is returning to Lithuania in the near future," the minister said.

VILNIUS, March 7 (Reuters) - Lithuania’s President Gitanas Nauseda on Monday warned Washington’s top diplomat Antony Blinken that a failure to stop Russia’s aggression in Ukraine would lead to a global conflict.

Addressing the U.S. secretary of state as he began a tour of Baltic states, Nauseda said Russian leader Vladimir Putin “will not stop in Ukraine” and that the world had an obligation to help Ukrainians “by all means available.”

“I mean indeed all means if we want to avoid the Third World War. The choice is in our hands,” he said.

VILNIUS, Lithuania (AP) — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Monday assured Lithuania of NATO protection and American support as he began a lightning visit to the three Baltic states that are increasingly on edge as Russia presses ahead with its invasion of Ukraine.

The former Soviet republics of Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia are all NATO members and Blinken is aiming to reassure them of their security in the event Russia chooses to expand its military operations.