PM sees no way for Belarusian fertilizer transit to continue for long time

"Definitely, without any specific dates, without specific months, I can say that I see no possibility for this transit to be able to continue for a long time," she told a joint press conference with her Baltic counterparts in Vilnius on Wednesday.

The goals of the sanctions imposed by the US, which is Lithuania's strategic partner, meet Lithuania's goals, she underlined.

"The decisions, which are being now implemented and, first of all, of course, apply to business entities, have the same goal Lithuania, as a state, has always agreed to, which is to ensure that authoritarian regimes have as little of financial comfort as possible than they sometimes manage to achieve," Simonyte said.

Her Latvian and Estonian counterparts Krisjanis Karins and Kaja Kallas also said they saw no possibility to work with the authoritarian Belarusian regime.

"Sanctions for Belarus and Russia can be effective only if they are imposed together and implemented together. The fifth (EU – BNS) sanction package has already been adopted for Belarus, and regarding other sanctions in the future, we are in favor as these sanctions can be truly effective," Karins told the press conference.

Kallas says countries need to stick to agreed sanctions.

"We will definitely not work with sanctioned enterprises," the Estonian prime minister said.

The Lithuanian government also stands ready to help Lietuvos Gelezinkeliai (Lithuanian Railways), the country's state-owned railway company, to resolve infrastructure upkeep issues.

"I wouldn’t link it with this situation specifically but since it’s a state-owned company and it's state infrastructure, so with no doubt, the state will ensure that that infrastructure is suitable for other carriers, other senders and other clients," the Lithuanian prime minister said. "The government will do everything that's needed from the government for this purpose."