US officials have proposed that Lithuania, Poland, and Ukraine lift sanctions on Belarusian potash to allow the transit of the agricultural product – a major source of hard currency revenue for Minsk --- through their territories.
An undated, unsigned, one-page document sent to the three countries bordering Belarus, which was obtained by RFE/RL, cited the March decision by President Donald Trump’s administration to lift financial restrictions on the state-run fertilizer giant Belaruskali.
“Now that the United States has lifted US sanctions on Belaruskali, US firms are interested in acquiring and transporting Belarusian potash,” the paper says. “Doing so would require transit through EU countries bordering Belarus or through Ukraine to avoid transport through Russia.”
“The United States is interested in exploring potential routes for the transit of Belarusian potash to alleviate global shortages via Poland, Lithuania, or Ukraine and looks forward to future discussions with you on this topic,” it says.
Belaruskali is one of the largest potash fertilizer companies in the world, and is the largest single source of revenue for the government of strongman leader Aleksandr Lukashenko.
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Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry confirmed it had received the document but had no further comment.
Poland's foreign ministry did not respond to a RFE/RL request for comment. Lithuania denied that it had received any such proposal, however, Lithuania’s foreign minister last week said that Washington was putting pressure to allow transit of the Belarusian fertilizer.
Poland and Lithuania -- both EU and NATO members -- have frosty relations with Lukashenko, in part because of his close ties with the Kremlin.
The United States and the European Union hit Lukashenko and his government with major sanctions in the wake of the 2020 presidential election in which Lukashenko, in power since 1994, claimed victory.
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The Lukashenko government waged a brutal crackdown, jailing thousands of people.
Since returning to the White House in January 2025, Trump has sought to renew ties with Lukashenko's government.
His lead envoy on the subject, John Coale, has met with Lukashenko personally in Minsk, and negotiated the release of scores of political prisoners.
In return, the Trump administration has eased sanctions on Belaruskali, the state airline Belavia, and other major companies.
Coale did not respond to an e-mail seeking comment.
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The EU, meanwhile, unanimously extended its sanctions on Belarus earlier this year. Those measures include an import ban on Belarusian potassium-based fertilizers and targeted sanctions on companies such as Belaruskali.
Under EU rules, imports of nitrogen-based fertilizers – of the sort that Belaruskali produces – were already being phased out.
The document refers to the EU sanctions still in place on Belarusian potash. Transit through EU countries would require the bloc to lift sanctions or transit countries to waive them "through an appropriate legal mechanism," the paper says.
By allowing the purchase of the Belarusian product, it says, the EU would also be depriving Russian potash suppliers of market share, as well as depriving Russia of transit revenues.
Prior to the EU sanctions, the bulk of Belarusian potash shipped via Baltic ports, mainly Klaipeda in Lithuania. In recent years, those exports are routed on Russian railways, mainly to St. Petersburg.
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The letter also proposed an unusual financing arrangement: directing income that EU countries earn from allowing Belarusian potash transit to go toward Ukraine’s defense against Russia’s all-out invasion.
The US request also comes amid warnings that the ongoing US-Israeli war against Iran -- and Iran’s retaliation and blocking of the Strait of Hormuz -- have led to a spike in global prices for fertilizer and other agriculture products.
The chokepoint waterway normally handles up to 30 percent of global fertilizer exports, including around 20 percent of global liquefied natural gas -- a key component in synthetic fertilizers.
UN officials have warned the price hikes will ripple through food and agriculture markets, including in the United States, where consumer prices are spiking due to high global oil prices and the Trump administration has looked for ways to ease inflation.
In the past, Belarus has accounted for around 15 percent of the global share of fertilizer production.