The U.S. is pressuring Ukraine to ease restrictions on Belarusian fertilizers
The United States is urging Ukraine to ease restrictions on imports of potash fertilizers from Belarus. It is also reported that Washington has asked Kyiv to persuade European countries to support a similar decision to ease restrictions on the supply of Belarusian products. Bloomberg learned of this on Wednesday, May 20.
The agency notes that potash, a soil nutrient used to boost crop yields, was a major source of foreign exchange earnings for Belarus before Western sanctions—imposed due to political repression and Moscow’s support in the war against Ukraine—stifled exports.
According to the agency’s sources, the U.S. believes that lifting the restrictions could help create some distance between Belarus and Russia and improve relations with Minsk.
Earlier this year, the U.S. already lifted some of its own restrictions on fertilizer imports from Belarus as part of an agreement under which Alexander Lukashenko’s regime released hundreds of political prisoners.
However, without the lifting of European sanctions, the effect of this is limited by the fact that Belarus cannot use its traditional delivery routes through Baltic Sea terminals and is forced to rely on Russian ports and railways. Countries such as Poland and Lithuania play a key role in transit.
As a reminder, Belarus has begun exercises to practice the use of nuclear weapons.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated that Russia is attempting to draw Belarus deeper into the war against Ukraine and is considering new scenarios for aggression from its territory.
Belarus’s self-proclaimed president, Alexander Lukashenko, held a meeting on military equipment and announced the preparation of a new state armament program for 2026–2030.
Belarus continues to build infrastructure facilities deep within its territory and is not moving them closer to the Ukrainian border. At the same time, it cannot be ruled out that Russia may use these facilities in the future to deploy additional forces and equipment.
