Belarus plans to increase exports to Russia by a third

Flags of Russia and Belarus. File photoMINSK, July 18Belarus plans to increase exports to Russia by a third this year, the growth rate of supplies to the Kaliningrad region may be even higher, said the republic's ambassador to Russia Vladimir Semashko. «Belarus will pay special attention to cooperation with the Kaliningrad region. The republic plans to increase exports to Russia, and to Kaliningrad it can be even higher,» the Belta news agency quoted the ambassador as saying on Monday. He stressed that Belarus «has always had very close relations with the Kaliningrad region.» «These are the deliveries of industrial products, agricultural products, food. And our builders worked very hard there. By and large, the European Union realized that it had taxied a little in the wrong direction, and those restrictions (on transit — ed.) that were unexpectedly introduced in in the middle of last month, were removed,» Semashko said. Since June 18, Lithuanian Railways has stopped transiting a number of goods to Kaliningrad that fell under EU sanctions. Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Lithuania was acting aggressively and had gone beyond unfriendly lines. EU Ambassador Markus Ederer was summoned to the Foreign Ministry, the Russian side demanded that transit be resumed immediately, otherwise retaliatory measures would follow. The Lithuanian authorities deny the violation of the transit agreement and claim that they were only complying with EU sanctions, President Gitanas Nauseda said that Vilnius would not make concessions. . The transit of sanctioned Russian cargo is prohibited only by road, rail transit is allowed subject to the necessary control, the European Commission said. The authorities of the Kaliningrad region stated that they would only be satisfied with the complete resumption of the transit of goods through Lithuania, in the form it was before the introduction of restrictions. Belarus announced plans to adopt the Russian S-400