The United States said NATO is ready to defend Lithuania in the event of a Russian invasion. The US State Department emphasized that Washington firmly supports Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty stipulating that an attack on one is an attack on all. This is in response to Russia’s threats against Lithuania after this Baltic state banned the transit of EU sanctioned goods to Russia’s Kaliningrad enclave citing the EU ban imposed after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. According to Radio Romania’s correspondent in Moscow, the EU ambassador in Moscow Markus Edler was summoned by the Russian foreign ministry over the ban, with the Russian side saying it violates EU commitments and escalates tensions in the area. Edler, who urged Moscow to solve the issue through diplomatic means, emphasised Lithuania was not taking unilateral measures, but imposing EU sanctions, with the movement of people and of goods that are not subject to sanctions continuing as usual.
