On 8 October, Lithuanian Prime Minister Mindaugas Sinkevičius called on the EU to ban the transit of Russian grain through the Union’s territory and to consider imposing targeted sanctions against certain Russian agricultural businessmen who support the war against Ukraine. On 9 October, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania backed the call regarding transit in a joint letter to the EU leadership.
Briefly about the main points
- Lithuania has proposed that the EU ban the transit of Russian grain.
- Sinkevičius also called for sanctions to be imposed on certain agricultural businessmen in the Russian Federation.
- Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania expressed their support for the transit ban in a joint letter.
- The EU’s high import duties on grain from the Russian Federation do not apply to transit shipments.
Lithuania’s proposal
As reported by Sinkevičius In a post on 8 October, Vilnius stated its intention to propose a ban on the transit of Russian grain through EU territory. Separately, the Lithuanian Prime Minister called for Russian agricultural oligarchs who openly support Russia’s war against Ukraine to be added to the sanctions lists.
This is an initiative by Lithuania, not a decision taken by the EU institutions. Sinkevičius also stated that Russia is looking for ways to export grain via European infrastructure, particularly in the Baltic region.
The joint position of the three states
On 9 October, the Prime Minister of Estonia Kristen Michal, the Prime Minister of Latvia Andris Kulbergs and the President of Lithuania Gitanas Nausėda sent a joint letter to the President of the European Council Antonio Costi and the President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen. In it, they called for a ban on the transit of Russian grain through the EU.
The authors of the letter stated that the Russians attacks on Ukrainian ports, civilian vessels, the railway and trade routes have seriously disrupted the flow of grain to global markets. They also called for measures to prevent grain, which they believe Russia has unlawfully appropriated from the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine, from being transported through the EU.
What restrictions are currently in place?
From 1 July 2024, the EU has been imposing high duties on imports of a range of cereals, oilseeds and derived products from Russia and Belarus. However, these duties did not apply to the transit of such goods through the Union’s territory to third countries.
The Baltic states’ appeal therefore specifically concerns the transit route, rather than a general ban on all agricultural trade with Russia. Earlier, on 24 September, the Latvian Parliament separately called on the government to halt the import and transit of Russian and Belarusian grain through the country.
