The United States has officially appealed to the governments of Ukraine, Lithuania, and Poland to lift restrictions on the transit of Belarusian potash through their territories. According to a letter from the US Special Representative to Belarus, John Cole, to the three countries, American companies are interested in purchasing and transporting Belarusian fertilizers, which requires the opening of transit routes through neighboring European states without involving Russia.
This is reported by Kyiv24
Reasons for the appeal and countries’ reactions
The text of the appeal states that lifting sanctions on the transit of Belarusian potash will help reduce the shortage in the global fertilizer market. The US is considering potential routes through Poland, Lithuania, or Ukraine and is interested in further negotiations regarding this possibility.
“Now that the United States has lifted sanctions against ‘Belaruskali’, American companies are interested in acquiring and transporting Belarusian potash. This will require transit through EU countries bordering Belarus or through Ukraine to avoid transportation through Russia,” the document states.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine confirmed the receipt of the official letter from the US. At the same time, the Polish and Lithuanian foreign ministries have not yet provided their comments. Lithuania’s Foreign Minister, Kęstutis Budrys, acknowledged the pressure from Washington regarding the opening of transit for Belarusian products through the country.
Sanctions against Belarusian potash and their development
At the beginning of spring, the US lifted its own restrictions on the company ‘Belaruskali’ and removed its marketing subsidiary, the ‘Belarusian Potash Company’, and the company ‘Agrodevelopment’ from the sanctions list. This decision was a result of an agreement to release 250 political prisoners in Belarus.
Sanctions against ‘Belaruskali’ were imposed in 2021 after an incident when Alexander Lukashenko’s regime forced a Ryanair flight from Greece to Lithuania to land in Minsk to detain opposition blogger Roman Protasevich and his partner Sofia Sapega.
This year, the European Union unanimously extended economic sanctions against Belarus for another year. These restrictions include a ban on the import of Belarusian potash fertilizers and targeted sanctions against several companies, including ‘Belaruskali’.
Last year, an additional tariff of 40-45 euros per ton was added to the existing EU tariff of 6.5% on Belarusian and Russian fertilizers. Starting this summer, the tariff will increase to 60 euros per ton, to 80 euros by 2027, and to 350 euros per ton by 2028.
Despite this, European officials have repeatedly publicly and privately denied that the US is pressuring for the easing of sanctions against Belarus.