Lithuanian ruling party leader demands foreign minister explain US pressure claims over Belarusian fertiliser transit

The leader of Lithuania’s governing Nemuno aušra party, Remigijus Žemaitaitis, has criticised Foreign Minister Kęstutis Budrys for failing to publicly clarify his reported remarks about US pressure over the transit of Belarusian fertilisers, state broadcaster LRT reports.

Žemaitaitis told Žinių radijas on Wednesday that Budrys should appear before parliament to explain the situation, stating: “Budrys needs to come to the Seimas, request an hour or half an hour, and clarify what the situation is today—where this pressure is coming from, and so on. And he hasn’t done that.”

The foreign minister’s comments emerged last week during a closed-door meeting of the Social Democratic Party’s parliamentary group, where Budrys reportedly spoke of “increased activity” from the US regarding fertiliser transit restrictions. Several politicians present, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed the remarks to BNS news agency. Budrys himself declined to confirm the specifics but acknowledged “additional activity” from the US on the issue.

Other Lithuanian officials, including President Gitanas Nausėda and Seimas Speaker Juozas Olekas, have denied experiencing any such pressure. Lithuania suspended transit of Belarusian potash fertilisers in February 2022 after the US imposed sanctions on Belarus’s state-owned producer Belaruskali in 2021 over human rights violations. Although the US lifted those sanctions this year following the release of some political prisoners by Alexander Lukashenko’s regime, Lithuania has maintained its restrictions, which were later adopted by the EU.