OREANDA-NEWS. President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko, at the presentation of the chairman of the Gomel regional executive committee on Wednesday, December 22, recalled the dependence of Lithuania and Ukraine on Belarusian transit.

“And if the topic of transit with the European Union has already set everyone's teeth on edge, then somehow they do not remember at all that the mutual trade turnover of Ukraine, for example, only with Lithuania through our country this year amounted to about three million tons, including through the Gomel section state border, ”BelTA quotes him.

On December 10, it became known that the Lithuanian Ministry of Transport has prepared a bill prohibiting the transit of goods from Belarus through the territory of the republic. According to the authors of the bill, this would also prevent the transit of Belaruskali fertilizers through Lithuania. However, the transit was not suspended within the specified period. In this connection, Foreign Minister Gabrielyus Landsbergis and Transport Minister Marius Skuodis resigned. Their applications were rejected by Prime Minister Ingrida Simonyte.

In addition, the Latvian government, as a sign of solidarity with Lithuania, decided to refuse the transit of Belarusian fertilizers until at least 15 January.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said she was concerned about Vilnius's plans to impose a ban on transit cargo transportation from Belarus through the territory of Lithuania. According to her, restrictive measures, if adopted, will not go unnoticed by Russia.

Also, the head of the Kaliningrad region Anton Alikhanov expressed concern about the said initiative of the Lithuanian authorities. He noted that the region buys goods produced in Belarus, for example, building materials and food.