Alyaksandr Lukashenka said that Belarus and Lithuania have resolved the issue of fire trucks intended for Zimbabwe that were detained in Klaipėda in 2023 due to sanctions, and that the vehicles are now back in Belarus.
“You seized the fire trucks. But we have resolved this issue. The fire trucks are already with us,” Lukashenka said while speaking to journalists.
In December last year, Lukashenka outlined conditions for resolving the situation with Lithuanian trucks stuck in Belarus. He demanded the return of 17 fire trucks, normalization of operations at a sanatorium in Druskininkai, and compensation for a bulk cargo terminal in the port of Klaipėda.
He reiterated these points again today.
“If you got into trouble, let’s get out of it in a humane way. You closed the border, put the vehicles on the roadside and made them pay for parking. Remember how it was? What claims do you have against us? And you accuse us? Then I say: what about you? You seized the fire trucks. But we resolved that issue — they are already with us. You closed the border — there is nowhere to go. You effectively took our sanatorium, where we treated Chernobyl victims. You took our port, where we had invested money. What claims do you have against us?” he said.
According to Lukashenka, a decision on the Lithuanian trucks will be made by Monday. He also suggested that the parking fees imposed on transport companies could be reduced.
