The United States intends to lift sanctions on Belarusian potash fertiliser exports

The United States intends to lift sanctions on Belarus' potash fertiliser exports.

This was announced on Saturday by the Belarusian state news agency „Belta“, citing the US special envoy John Coale'.

This decision may be of interest to Lithuania, as Lithuania has suspended the transit of Belarusian potash fertilisers from 1 February 2022, following US sanctions on Belarus' largest potash fertiliser producer, „Belaruskalij“.

This latest move by the US is seen as part of a warming of relations between Minsk and Washington. 

On Friday and Saturday in Minsk, Mr Coale held talks with Belarus's authoritarian leader, Aliaksandr Lukashenko.

Belarus, Russia's closest ally, has faced years of isolation and sanctions from the West. 

Lukashenko, who has ruled Belarus since 1994, has been carrying out a massive crackdown since 2020, when protests erupted in the country against his rule, and over 1,000 people are still being held in prisons.

On Saturday, Mr Coale called the talks in Belarus "very productive", according to „Belta“.

The US envoy said that Washington's goal is the normalisation of relations with Minsk.

„We are lifting sanctions, releasing prisoners. We are in constant contact," Mr Coale was quoted as saying by „Belta“.

He pointed out that relations between the two countries are moving from "small steps" to "bigger steps" as dialogue intensifies.

Belarusian opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya told „The Associated Press“ news agency on Saturday that sanctions are being eased as part of an agreement between Minsk and Washington to free another large group of political prisoners in Belarus.

„The release of the political prisoners means that Lukashenko understands the pain of the Western sanctions and is seeking to ease them,“ said Ms. Tsikhanouskaya.

„But let's not be naive: Lukashenko is not changing his policy, his repression continues and he continues to support Russia's war against Ukraine. We must therefore be very careful when talking about easing sanctions, lest we strengthen the Russian war machine and encourage further repression," she added.

The opposition leader also noted that the European Union (EU) sanctions on Belarusian potash fertiliser Minsk are much more painful than the US sanctions. 

According to her, while the easing of US sanctions could lead to the release of political prisoners, the European sanctions should lead to lasting, systemic change in Belarus and an end to Russia's war in Ukraine.

In September, Belarus released dozens of political prisoners under an agreement with the US in exchange for the easing of some sanctions.

The transit of „Belaruskalij“ from the border with Belarus to the port of Klaipėda has been running for more than a decade and was supposed to last until the end of 2023, but it was terminated on February 1, 2022, after the government confirmed that the contract between „Lietuvos geležinkeliai“ and „Belaruskalij“, which was supposed to last until the end of 2023, did not correspond to the country's security interests. 

U.S. sanctions against „Belaruskalij“ entered into force on 8 December 2021.