Lithuania is ready for Russia to disconnect the country from the local power grid in response to the ban on the transit of goods for the Kaliningrad region through the country, but does not count on a military escalation of the conflict. This was announced by Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda to Reuters.
Nausėda made his statement in response to a remark by Secretary of the Security Council Nikolai Patrushev, who said on June 21 that Russia would "definitely respond" to Lithuania's blocking of trains for the Kaliningrad region as part of EU sanctions. “Relevant measures are being worked out in an interdepartmental format and will be taken in the near future. Their consequences will have a serious negative impact on the population of Lithuania,” Patrushev threatened.
“We are prepared for Russia’s unfriendly actions <in response to the blocking of the trains - The Insider> , both for disconnecting the <electric ring of Belarus, Russia, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania - The Insider> from BRELL, and for others," the President of the country said , suggesting what kind of measures Patrushev threatens the population of Lithuania.
BRELL assumes the connection of the power lines of all five states in a conditional ring, for which the general principles for organizing joint work, the exchange of electricity and supporting each other with reserves during accidents are established. The Baltic countries planned to disconnect from BRELL in 2025, but the war in Ukraine accelerated this process: in March, the countries entered into an agreement on accelerated synchronization with the European network.
Lithuanian President Nauseda also added that he "does not believe" in the possibility of a military escalation of the conflict with Russia: "After all, we are a NATO member state."