VILNIUS: Some 2,000 trucks were stranded Friday in Belarus after Lithuania closed its border in response to recent airspace disruptions, a truckers association said.
Dozens of balloons loaded with illegal cigarettes entered Lithuania’s airspace last week, forcing the temporary closure of airports in the capital Vilnius and Kaunas, affecting numerous flights and thousands of passengers.
Vilnius and the European Union denounced the incidents as a “hybrid attack.”
“Around 2,000 trucks are stranded in Belarus,” Oleg Tarasov, vice president of Linava, the Lithuanian road carriers’ association, told AFP on Friday.
“The Belarusians have seized all Lithuanian vehicles and are not allowing them to leave (the border area). We are being held hostage, our goods are being held hostage,” he said.
An estimated 60 million euros ($69 million) in assets are currently stuck in Belarus, according to Tarasov, who warned such delays could cause around 18 million euros in monthly losses.
The Linava official criticized the government for not consulting or informing road carriers ahead of the closure, which affects cross-border freight transport.
Lithuania’s logistics sector employs some 54,000 drivers who operate around 56,000 trucks, according to data provided by the association.
Lithuania, a NATO and European Union member, shut its last two border crossings with Belarus until November 30 in response to last week’s incident.
Four other border crossings with Belarus were closed in 2023 and 2024 due to security concerns after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Neighbouring Poland also temporarily shut its border with Belarus in September when Minsk hosted Russia-led military exercises, and has since reopened only some crossings.
2,000 trucks stuck in Belarus after Lithuania closes border: association
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2,000 trucks stuck in Belarus after Lithuania closes border: association
- “Around 2,000 trucks are stranded in Belarus,” Oleg Tarasov, vice president of Linava, the Lithuanian road carriers’ association, told AFP
- The Linava official criticized the government for not consulting or informing road carriers ahead of the closure
Changes to US security strategy ‘largely consistent’ with Russia’s vision: Kremlin
- Kremlin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that the current US administration was “fundamentally different from the previous ones”
MOSCOW: Russia has welcomed changes in the US National Security Strategy, saying the adjustments that marked a radical departure from Washington’s previous policy were “largely consistent” with Moscow’s vision.
Washington’s new National Security Strategy, published early Friday, took aim at allies in Europe, calling it over-regulated, lacking in “self-confidence” and facing “civilizational erasure” due to immigration.
The document stated that the United States would also prevent other powers from dominating but added: “This does not mean wasting blood and treasure to curtail the influence of all the world’s great and middle powers.”
Commenting on the new US strategy, the Kremlin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that the current US administration was “fundamentally different from the previous ones.”
“The adjustments we’re seeing, I would say, are largely consistent with our vision,” Peskov said in an interview with state TV station Rossiya aired Sunday.
“President Trump is currently strong in terms of domestic political positions. And this gives him the opportunity to adjust the concept to suit his vision,” Peskov added.
The publication of the updated security strategy came as officials from Kyiv held talks in Florida with Trump’s envoys on the US-drafted plan to end the near four-year war in Ukraine.
Three days of talks produced no apparent breakthrough.
President Volodymyr Zelensky committed to further negotiations toward “real peace,” as Russia in the early hours of Saturday launched another series of drone and missile strikes at Ukraine.
Zelensky is due to meet with European leaders — French President Emmanuel Macron, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz — in London on Monday to take stock of the negotiations.
