{"id":595886,"date":"2026-10-30T08:49:05","date_gmt":"2026-10-30T05:49:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/reform.news\/?p=595886"},"modified":"2026-10-30T10:41:10","modified_gmt":"2026-10-30T07:41:10","slug":"politico-trump-pressures-lithuania-to-resume-belarusian-potash-transit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/reform.news\/en\/politico-trump-pressures-lithuania-to-resume-belarusian-potash-transit","title":{"rendered":"Politico: Trump Pressures Lithuania to Resume Belarusian Potash Transit"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The Donald Trump administration is putting pressure on Lithuania to reopen the port of Klaip\u0117da to exports of Belarusian potash fertilisers. Politico reports<\/a>, citing European officials and sources familiar with the negotiations.<\/p>\n

According to four European officials, US special envoy for Belarus John Coale<\/b> has discussed the possibility of easing restrictions with Lithuanian diplomats in recent weeks. Washington hopes to reduce its dependence on Canadian potash supplies and lower costs for American farmers.<\/p>\n

This is taking place against the backdrop of Trump’s broader efforts to ease sanctions on Russia and its allies in an attempt to push Moscow towards ending its war against Ukraine. However, these efforts are facing strong resistance in Europe, where officials are highly sceptical of any concessions to Putin<\/b>. In their view, such steps would only give the Russian autocrat and other figures in his orbit, such as Lukashenka<\/b>, greater confidence in their actions.<\/p>\n

“They are pressing politely, but we say very clearly ‘fuck no’,” <\/i> one Eastern European official said. “If Americans are not able to learn from history then we have to stand the ground.”<\/i><\/p>\n

One source told the publication that the Trump team had stepped up contacts with Lithuania in recent weeks. According to two Eastern European officials, Coale has been raising the issue at various levels of the Lithuanian government for more than a year, since his first visit to Minsk.<\/p>\n

The talks concern more than just Klaip\u0117da. According to Politico, the US side has also explored the possibility of exporting Belarusian potash through other Baltic ports, including Riga. One European official confirmed that Coale had approached Latvian representatives on the matter. A route through Baltic ports would be simpler than shipments through Russia.<\/p>\n

However, US proposals are facing resistance in Eastern Europe. Sources cited by the publication fear that easing sanctions would give Aliaksandr Lukashenka<\/b> additional international legitimacy and allow him to continue repression.<\/p>\n

A State Department spokesperson declined to discuss specific commercial deals but said that the United States regularly explores opportunities with its allies and partners that serve American economic interests. The spokesperson also noted Belarus’s “constructive engagement” with the United States and linked potential purchases of Belarusian potash to lower prices for American farmers.<\/p>\n

Last month, Trump said he was working on a major deal with Minsk<\/a> to purchase potash fertilisers at a lower price than those offered by Canadian companies. Canada accounts for about 80% of US potash imports, while the United States is almost entirely dependent on foreign supplies. The breakdown of trade negotiations with Ottawa and reciprocal tariff increases have provided an additional incentive to seek alternatives.<\/p>\n

Before sanctions were imposed, around 90% of Belarusian potash fertiliser exports passed through Klaip\u0117da, the publication notes. EU restrictions were introduced following the 2020 presidential election and the crackdown on peaceful protests. Sanctions were tightened after the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, which was supported by the Belarusian authorities.<\/p>\n

Politico notes that the sanctions require annual renewal. Lithuania, which is due to assume the rotating presidency of the Council of the European Union at the beginning of the year, could theoretically veto their extension. However, the country remains one of Ukraine’s most consistent allies within the EU.<\/p>\n

Sources cited by the publication stress that making concessions to Washington would be politically difficult for both the Lithuanian and Latvian governments. European officials also question the commercial viability of such an arrangement, given Canada’s strong position in the global potash fertiliser market.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Donald Trump administration is putting pressure on Lithuania to reopen the port of Klaip\u0117da to exports of Belarusian potash fertilisers. Politico reports, citing European officials and sources familiar with the negotiations. According to four European officials, US special envoy for Belarus John Coale has discussed the possibility of easing restrictions with Lithuanian diplomats in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":119,"featured_media":595887,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_sharing_image":{"poster":"https:\/\/reform.news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/6ae44a1b48649.jpg","width":1200,"height":630,"template":"691142dd","mode":"auto"},"_sharing_image_fieldset":{"dTVKfmI95PYT":"Politico: Trump Pressures Lithuania to Resume Belarusian Potash Transit"},"footnotes":""},"categories":[142339,142338,143284,143090,143126],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-595886","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-main","category-news","category-world","category-politics","category-business"],"wps_subtitle":"","permalink_manager":null,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/reform.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/595886","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/reform.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/reform.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reform.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/119"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reform.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=595886"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/reform.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/595886\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":595888,"href":"https:\/\/reform.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/595886\/revisions\/595888"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reform.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/595887"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/reform.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=595886"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reform.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=595886"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reform.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=595886"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}