The President of Lithuania Is Not Afraid of Russia’s Retaliation and Says He Is Ready

Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda told Reuters that if Russia cuts Lithuania’s power grid in retaliation for Lithuania’s prevention of some Russian goods to be transported to Enclave Kaliningrad by rail, and that Lithuania will be prepared, but no military confrontation is expected.

Lithuania shut down rail routes carrying steel and other ferrous metals from Russia’s inland on the 17th, stating the move acted in response to EU sanctions which was effective the same day. Subsequently the Russian Foreign Ministry summoned the Lithuanian chargé d’affaires in Russia and expressed Russia’s protest over Lithuania’s ban on its transit to the Kaliningrad region, demanding Lithuania to lift the ban. On the 22nd Russia even threatened Lithuania that it would respond to the ban and “make the citizens of this Baltic country feel the pain.”

In an interview today, President of Lithuania Nauseda said: “We are ready to deal with unfriendly actions by Russia, such as cutting off the connection to the BRELL (power grid) system or other systems”.
30 years after independence from the Soviet Union, the Baltic states of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia still rely on Russia for electricity. However, since last year, Lithuania has made various preparations, including the construction of equipment to connect to the power grid of the European continent to prevent possible power outages caused by excessive dependence on Russia’s power supply.