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Lithuania "Prepared" For Russian Retaliation Over Kaliningrad

EU-RUSSIA

The war of words between Russia and Lithuania over the Russia enclave Kaliningrad has intensified today leading to speculation on what form a Russian retaliation against Lithuania will take.

  • Russian deputy foreign minister Sergei Ryabkov, and Duma member and Russian negotiator Leonid Slutsky have both warned of consequences from the decision by Vilnius to enforce EU sanctions on Russian goods passing through Lithuania.
  • The most obvious option available to Moscow is to cut Lithuania out of the BRELL - the power grid connecting Belarus, Russia, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania since the end of the Soviet period - and there have been reports that the head of Russian State Security Council Nikolai Patrushev was in Kaliningrad today to access cutting Lithuania from BRELL.
  • Patrushev said: "Russia will certainly respond to such hostile actions. Their consequences will have a serious negative impact on the population of Lithuania.”
  • The Baltic Security Foundation wrote in May 2021: "Exiting BRELL is a major component of the Baltics’ overall strategy not only for energy security, but for their national security broadly."
  • Today Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda said: "We are ready and we are prepared for unfriendly actions from Russia, such as disconnection from the BRELL (power grid) system, or others."
  • According to the Baltic Security Foundation however: "the process of exiting BRELL and integrating into the Continental European grid set to be completed in 2025, the Baltics should take the opportunity now to improve both the physical security and cyber security components of their critical energy infrastructures."





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