The United States has officially asked Lithuania, Poland and Ukraine to lift sanctions on Belarusian potash in order to ensure its transit. This was reported by Radio Svaboda, citing a letter from US presidential special envoy John Coale.
“Now that the United States has lifted American sanctions on Belaruskali, US companies are interested in purchasing and transporting Belarusian potash. This will require transit through EU countries bordering Belarus or through Ukraine in order to avoid transportation through Russia.”, Svaboda quoted from the letter.
The letter also states that the United States is interested in exploring potential transit routes for potash in order to ease global shortages and expects future discussions on the issue with Poland, Lithuania and Ukraine.
The letter proposes either lifting EU sanctions or allowing transit countries to waive them through the relevant legal mechanism. Coale also writes that any purchase of Belarusian potash by Western countries deprives Russia of the opportunity to sell its own potash and benefit from transit fees. At the same time, some or all of the transit fees could be directed by European countries into a special fund to support Ukraine.
Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry confirmed receipt of the letter. The foreign ministries of Poland and Lithuania have not yet responded to Svaboda’s request.
Earlier, Lithuania’s Foreign Minister Kęstutis Budrys had acknowledged pressure from the United States regarding the transit issue, although the country’s president Gitanas Nausėda had denied such pressure. Bloomberg also recently reported that the United States had asked Ukraine to influence EU countries on the issue of Belarusian potash transit.
