Lukashenko Responded to Trump's Announcement of a Potash Deal
Belarus’s self-proclaimed president, Alexander Lukashenko, stated that Minsk does not have any surplus potash fertilizer to supply to Western markets.
His remarks came after U.S. President Donald Trump announced that work was underway on a “large-scale deal” to purchase Belarusian potash at a price lower than what the United States currently pays Canada.
“Even if we wanted to supply potash to other, Western markets, we simply don’t have those volumes—everything is already under contract,” Lukashenko said.
Thus, Lukashenko’s and Trump’s statements regarding potential shipments of Belarusian potash currently do not align: the U.S. president is speaking of negotiations on a major deal, while the Belarusian leader is pointing to a lack of available volumes for Western buyers.
On September 21, Donald Trump stated that the U.S. is working on a major deal to purchase potash fertilizers from Belarus. According to him, the U.S. side expects to receive the product at a price that will be “significantly lower” than the cost of potash currently purchased from Canada.
Trump called the potential price reduction good news for American farmers and livestock producers.
Potash is an important component of mineral fertilizers. Canada remains the main supplier of potash to the U.S., while Belarus is one of the world’s largest producers of this resource.
Alexander Lukashenko’s statement came shortly after Trump’s remarks.
The Belarusian leader essentially noted that Minsk does not have sufficient volumes of potash that could be additionally directed to Western markets, since production is already allocated under existing contracts.
Earlier, on September 11, Lukashenko announced the resumption of Belarusian potash sales to the U.S. At the same time, he noted that Belarus has some available volumes, but a significant portion of production is already contracted, particularly for the current year.
At that time, Lukashenko also raised the issue of the return of more than $40 million, which, according to him, remains frozen in the U.S. banking system. Later, U.S. Special Representative John Cole stated that Washington is working on a mechanism to unfreeze these funds.
The rapprochement between Washington and Minsk is taking place against the backdrop of a gradual easing of U.S. sanctions against Belarus.
On March 26, 2026, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) removed, among others, Belaruskali and the Belarusian Potash Company from its sanctions list. At the same time, OFAC continues to maintain certain sanctions restrictions against Belarus.
In December 2025, the U.S. also issued General License 13, which authorized a number of transactions with Belaruskali, the Belarusian Potash Company, and their affiliates.
Despite Donald Trump’s statement, there are currently no official details regarding a potential U.S.-Belarusian agreement on large-scale potash purchases.
In particular, neither specific supply volumes, nor deadlines, nor a final price have been announced. The situation is further complicated by Lukashenko’s statement that the entire volume available to Western markets has already been contracted.
The U.S. Department of the Treasury has granted limited sanctions relief to three Belarusian companies involved in potash production. This decision was made following Belarus’s release of political prisoners.
The U.S. is threatening the International Criminal Court with new sanctions to prevent it from prosecuting Trump.
As a reminder, the U.S. imposed new sanctions against six tankers that were transporting Venezuelan oil and against three relatives of President Maduro.
The European Union is working on a new—its 20th—package of sanctions against Russia, which could target key sectors of the Russian economy: nuclear power, steel, oil, and fertilizer production.
