Lithuania's Foreign Minister Commented On A Possible U.S. Potash Deal With The Lukashenko Regime

• 22.09.2026, 12:25

Fertilizers produced in Belarus cannot enter the EU.

Yesterday, U.S. President Donald Trump stated that is working on a deal with Belarus to purchase potash fertilizers at a lower price than the U.S. pays for them from neighboring Canada.

Foreign Minister Kęstutis Budris told LRT that this is a matter of bilateral relations between the U.S. and Belarus and, he said, does not directly affect Lithuania.

“What is happening between the U.S. and Belarus is a bilateral matter—a relationship between those two countries. The lifting of U.S. sanctions is not directly linked to the actions of the European Union or its sanctions policy. Therefore, having learned of this statement through public reports, we view it as a matter of bilateral relations that does not directly concern us,” he said.

When asked whether Washington had expressed a desire for Belarusian potash fertilizers to enter the U.S. market via Lithuanian territory or Lithuanian ports, Budris said he had advised U.S. officials on how EU sanctions work: “Current regulations regarding sanctions against Belarus stipulate that no fertilizers may be present on EU territory. This also applies to transit. It doesn’t matter who owns the potash fertilizers, it doesn’t matter which company ships them, and it doesn’t matter in which country they are registered—potash fertilizers mined in Belarus cannot enter the EU,” says Budris.

Therefore, no EU member state can currently be part of a fertilizer agreement between the U.S. and Belarus, the Lithuanian foreign minister asserts.

When asked whether the U.S. had pressured Lithuania or the EU to reconsider sanctions against Belarus, Budris says that the reasons for imposing sanctions on Belarus are clear—human rights violations, the suppression of the opposition, and support for Russia. “As long as this hasn’t changed, there is no reason to say that the sanctions could be revised. I don’t see any room for debate on this issue today,” Budris stated.