Lithuanian social democrats’ leader says he feels no US pressure over Belarusian fertiliser transit

The chairman of Lithuania’s ruling Social Democratic Party of Lithuania (LSDP), Mindaugas Sinkevičius, has stated he does not sense pressure from the United States regarding the transit of Belarusian fertilisers through the country, urging less public discussion on the matter, LRT reports.

Speaking to Lietuvos rytas television on Friday, Sinkevičius said: “I think the content of these conversations should perhaps be of a more closed nature, but as for any indication that America is pressuring us, requesting, demanding, wanting, or suggesting—formulations can vary—I do not feel it.”

He acknowledged, however, that “reading between the lines,” recent visits by US President Joe Biden’s special envoy John Coale to Vilnius, along with active talks with Prime Minister Ingrida Ruginienė and Foreign Ministry representatives, involve broader issues that “do not necessarily need to be discussed or debated in the public sphere.”

His comments follow Foreign Minister Kęstutis Budrys’ admission in a closed-door Social Democratic faction meeting on Wednesday that the US is exerting pressure to allow the transit of Belarusian fertilisers through Lithuania. Several faction members, speaking anonymously to the Baltic News Service (BNS), confirmed the statement.

Lithuania suspended the transit of Belarusian potash fertilisers in February 2022 after the US imposed sanctions on Belarus’ largest potash producer, Belaruskalij, in response to human rights violations in 2021. Although the US lifted these sanctions earlier this year following the release of some political prisoners by Alexander Lukashenko’s regime, Lithuania has maintained restrictions, as the European Union later introduced its own measures.