MFA: Russia's Decision to Close Railway Border Points Not Officially Received

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) has not yet officially received Russia's decision to suspend operations at several railway border crossing points on the border with Latvia, Estonia, and Finland, MFA press secretary Diāna Eglīte stated.

According to MFA estimates, the closure will have limited impact due to the low freight traffic at the Kārsava border crossing point affected by the decision. The Zilupe railway checkpoint and the road border crossings at Terehova and Grebņeva on the Latvia–Russia border remain operational.

The ministry reiterated its ongoing call since the start of Russia's war in Ukraine to cease trade with the aggressor state and its ally Belarus. A draft law is currently being advanced to ban the import of certain industrial goods from Russia and Belarus.

On July 1, the Russian government decided to temporarily suspend the movement of people, vehicles, goods, and cargo through several railway checkpoints. Most of the closures are on the Finnish border, but traffic has also been fully halted at the Pechory-Pskov checkpoint on the Estonian border and the Pytalovo checkpoint on the Latvian border. The Pytalovo checkpoint is located on the Rēzekne–Kārsava–Pytalovo railway line.

In practice, only these two checkpoints are newly closed, as the Finnish border was already fully shut earlier due to Helsinki's decision. Russia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs has been instructed to notify the governments of Finland, Estonia, and Latvia about the decision.