Auštrevičius warns against easing Belarus sanctions over fertiliser deal

European Parliament member Petras Auštrevičius has warned that Lithuania would make a disastrous mistake by joining what he called “Trumpism” over a potential US-Belarusian deal on potash fertiliser, LRT reported.

US President Donald Trump said before travelling to the United Nations General Assembly in New York that a major agreement was being prepared to purchase potash fertiliser from Belarus. He said Belarusian fertiliser was significantly cheaper than Canadian supplies.

Lithuanian Foreign Minister Kęstutis Budrys said he learned about the proposal from public reports and described it as a matter of bilateral relations between the United States and Belarus that did not directly concern Lithuania.

“The past few years have clearly shown that all attempts by the United States to soften relations with Belarus end with more aggressive behaviour by Belarus on the border,” Budrys said.

President Gitanas Nausėda said Lithuania was part of the European Union, which had imposed sanctions on Belarus for specific reasons. He added that the sanctions were not permanent and could change if circumstances changed.

The United States lifted this year the sanctions imposed on Belarusian fertiliser in 2022. Before the sanctions were introduced, the fertiliser was transported through the port of Klaipėda, raising questions about how it could be shipped now.

The prime minister said Lithuania had not received a request from the United States to allow the transit of Belarusian fertiliser through its territory. Conservatives said such shipments could not pass through Lithuania because of EU sanctions and national security risks.

Former Prime Minister Ingrida Šimonytė said any attempt to use Lithuania’s infrastructure would face both Lithuanian institutional and court decisions regarding the national security threat posed by transactions with Belaruskali and EU sanctions.

Thomas Janeliūnas, a professor at Vilnius University’s Institute of International Relations and Political Science, said the fertiliser could potentially be transported through Russia or Ukraine instead of Klaipėda.

However, Budrys said Belarusian potash fertiliser could not enter or move through any part of the European Union, regardless of its owner, the company shipping it or the country where that company was registered. EU sanctions on Belarusian fertiliser are in force until the end of February.

Auštrevičius said he hoped Lithuania would not initiate a review of the sanctions regime against Belarus while chairing the Council of the European Union.

“Getting involved in such ‘Trumpism’ would be disastrous for us. Lithuania would gain nothing from it,” he said.

Belarusian opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya said potash fertiliser was the main source of income for Alyaksandr Lukashenka and that the money would be used for repression and to support Russia in the war.

Meanwhile, Lithuanian lawmaker Ignas Vėgėlė argued that Russia benefited from Lithuania’s ban on the transit of Belarusian fertiliser because it received the profits from both higher fertiliser prices and logistics when shipments were redirected through Russian territory.

Tags: Belarus, sanctions, potash fertiliser