“There Are Food Problems in Europe.” Lukashenka Wants to Cooperate with Poles, Lithuanians and Latvians

Reform.news Editorial Team · 12 October 2026, 12:52

https://reform.news/en/there-are-food-problems-in-europe-lukashenka-wants-to-cooperate-with-poles-lithuanians-and-latvians/

Aliaksandr Lukashenka believes that dry weather in EU countries has caused food supply problems and that it is therefore necessary to “gradually cooperate” with neighbouring countries. He made the statement during a visit to Minsk District, where he was shown the results of a field experiment involving the application of potash production waste to maize crops.

“We need to cooperate with our neighbours — with the Poles, Lithuanians and Latvians. In this situation, when Europe is having problems with food because of this drought, we need to gradually cooperate with them. Neighbours are neighbours. When we stop just looking at each other through the sights of our guns and start cooperating economically, it suggests that perhaps we may even be able to avoid war,” he said, according to his press service.

It should be noted that there are currently no food supply disruptions in EU countries. According to Polish statistics, the country’s grain harvest this year is estimated at 35.5 million tonnes, 5% less than in 2025. However, this is 3.5 times larger than Belarus’s harvest, which in recent years has included rapeseed alongside grain crops to increase the reported total harvest volume. Lithuania’s grain harvest is expected to be at the same level as last year. Only Latvia is forecasting a significant decline in average yields this year.

Lukashenka also identified fuel pellet supplies as another potential area of cooperation.

“The Poles really surprise me. Firewood prices have gone up in Poland, as well as in Lithuania and all our neighbouring countries. So take firewood, pellets and other products at a reasonable price. They are resisting. Well, if they don’t want to buy them, they don’t have to.

Tomorrow, we won’t be able to sell to them. That’s because we ourselves have begun switching to firewood and pellets on a large scale. It’s a good technology. Homiel makes a good boiler: you pour pellets into the hopper, and they are fed automatically. We’ll master this technology. We’ll need that firewood and those pellets ourselves,” he said.

It should be recalled that after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, including from Belarusian territory, the European Union imposed sanctions on Belarus’s woodworking industry. Fuel pellets were also banned. Before that, on Lukashenka’s orders, numerous pellet plants had been built in Belarus with the aim of supplying the EU market. Ultimately, however, they found themselves without sufficient demand.

In July, the State Standard Committee’s press service reported that in 2025, fuel pellet consumption in Belarus increased by 39% to 61,600 tonnes. Meanwhile, 64 fuel pellet plants with a combined production capacity of 900,000 tonnes had previously been established in the country.