Lukashenko received support from Trump's team regarding fertilizer exports through Lithuania

Joe Cole, Special Envoy of U.S. President Donald Trump, has begun promoting the idea of resuming exports of Belarusian potash fertilizers through Lithuanian ports. Such a move could open up additional opportunities for international trade for Alexander Lukashenko’s regime. At the same time, this initiative has received virtually no support within the U.S. administration.

According to the publication, Cole advocates for resuming the transit of Belarusian potash through Lithuanian territory, despite existing European Union sanctions. His proposal calls for a return to an export route to which Belarusian producers still have limited access.

The initiative emerged amid the Trump administration’s efforts to find alternative sources of potash fertilizer for the United States. Previously, Canada accounted for about 80% of U.S. potash imports, so Washington is interested in diversifying its supply sources.

Belarus, which has significant potash fertilizer production capacity, has emerged as one of the potential alternative suppliers. In December 2025, the United States announced the lifting of sanctions against Belarusian potash producers. This decision paved the way for the resumption of relevant trade operations with the U.S.

However, the U.S. easing of sanctions did not automatically open European transport routes to Belarusian products.

The European Union continues to enforce its own restrictions against Belarus. These remain separate from Washington’s sanctions policy, so the U.S. administration’s decision does not oblige European countries to change their rules.

It is precisely this circumstance that has become the main obstacle to the implementation of Cole’s proposal. Under the EU’s current mechanism, sanctions against Belarus must be renewed every 12 months. Unanimous support from the member states is required to adopt such a decision.

Theoretically, Lithuania could exercise its veto power and block the next extension of the sanctions. Such a scenario would create an opportunity to review the restrictions that hinder Belarusian exports.

However, as journalists have discovered, the Lithuanian government has no intention of supporting this option. Vilnius’s position effectively deprives the American negotiator’s initiative of one of its key implementation mechanisms.

At the same time, The Kyiv Independent has determined that Cole’s proposal has not become part of the Trump administration’s coordinated policy. A European official familiar with Lithuania’s position told the publication that the idea of resuming the transit of Belarusian potash originated exclusively with the U.S. special envoy.

According to him, the U.S. State Department has never officially raised this issue with the Lithuanian side.

This means that, despite the efforts of a single representative from Washington, the U.S. diplomatic service did not initiate a corresponding process at the intergovernmental level. Moreover, within the U.S. government itself, Cole’s initiative was characterized as his own personal initiative.

For Minsk, the implementation of such a plan would mean the opportunity to once again use Lithuanian transport infrastructure to supply potash fertilizers to foreign markets.

At the same time, a decision by the United States to lift its own sanctions is not enough to make this happen. Changes to European restrictions and the consent of the countries through whose territory the transit is planned are also required. Currently, none of these conditions for resuming exports through Lithuania have been met.

This was reported with reference to The Kyiv Independent.

Belarus’s self-proclaimed president, Alexander Lukashenko, stated that Minsk does not have any surplus potash fertilizer to supply to Western markets. 

As a reminder, Lukashenko proposed a joint nitrogen plant project with Russia to the U.S.