GOMEL, 22 December (BelTA) – There is a way Belarus may respond to a ban on Belarusian shipments via the Lithuanian port of Klaipeda. Belarus President Aleksandr Lukashenko made the relevant statement as he introduced the new Gomel Oblast governor on 22 December, BelTA has learned.
Aleksandr Lukashenko said: “While everyone is sick and tired of talking about transit with the European Union, people fail to remember that, for instance, Ukraine's mutual trade with Lithuania alone via Belarus has been close to 3 million tonnes this year, including across the Gomel section of the state border. I don't understand what Lithuanians think when they pressure us. We will close this transit. Let them transport the shipments via Germany or Poland. It will be three times as expensive.”
In his opinion, there lies a rather serious potential for Belarus to respond to “Lithuanian shenanigans around the Klaipeda port”.
