The route affected by the closure normally accounts for approximately €25 billion per year in freight traffic between China and the EU. Warsaw has claimed the closure is "related to the Russian-Belarusian 'Zapad-2025' exercises," held in neighboring Belarus on September 12-16. The closure compounds existing frictions over tariffs, subsidies, and security concerns that have long pressured EU-China trade ties. According to Sikorski, a noted Russia hawk, "the logic of trade" was being replaced by "the logic of security," Politico reported, citing Polish foreign affairs spokesman Pawel Wronski. He pointed to Washington's pressure on the EU to slap extra tariffs on China over its purchases of Russian energy.