Lithuania threatened to destroy Russian grain with fake origins passing through its port.
Lithuania will stop Russian and Belarusian grain at the port of Kalypda while its origin is verified. If a fake is discovered, the cargo will be returned or destroyed, a representative of the Baltic Republic's Ministry of Agriculture told Reuters. Starting next week, wheat, barley, sunflower seeds and corn exported from Russia or Belarus through the port of Klaipeda on the Baltic Sea will not undergo customs clearance until the test results are received.
According to the official, the tests may take "two months or more", since there is no suitable laboratory for this in Lithuania and the samples will have to be sent abroad. All costs for storage, analysis, return or destruction of cargo shall be borne by the exporters. Lithuania began inspecting Russian and Belarusian grain back in September due to suspicions that it could have been collected in the occupied territories of Ukraine. At the same time, the Baltic states are seeking a pan-European ban on such a transition. "The European Union should not become a channel through which Russia reduces the economic consequences of its aggression," they emphasized in a letter to the heads of the European Commission and the European Council. Estonia has already banned the passage of Russian and Belarusian grain through its ports.
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