March 17, Pozirk. Belarusian Prime Minister Alaksandar Turčyn has met with executives of Lithuanian and Polish transport companies in Minsk in an effort to resolve the crisis of stranded foreign-registered trucks in Belarus, the Council of Ministers’ press office reported.
“Foreign carriers have effectively been left to fend for themselves by their own governments,” the statement reads. “Due to politically-motivated decisions by their authorities, including transit restrictions and the closure of border crossing points, around 1,000 trucks with Lithuanian registration have been blocked and deprived of the ability to operate fully on their usual routes.”
Truckers reportedly requested assistance from Alaksandar Łukašenka to resolve the situation with blocked Lithuanian-registered vehicles, who instructed the prime minister to meet with the carriers and hear their concerns.
At the meeting, Turčyn said Minsk has been proposing talks with Lithuania for four months and blamed Vilnius for ignoring these requests.
The official added that the Belarusian side could confiscate the vehicles, but has no intention of doing so. However, he noted that the costs incurred by the Belarusian private company that has been safeguarding the vehicles at the designated parking lots “must be compensated.”
Vilnius is considering response measures against Minsk since Łukašenka’s regime has refused to release Lithuanian trucks stranded in Belarus since last fall, Remigijus Motuzas, chairman of the Seimas Foreign Affairs Committee, said last week.
Minsk barred Lithuanian trucks from leaving the country after Vilnius closed the Medininkai–Kamienny Łoh and Šalčininkai–Bieniakoni border checkpoints for three weeks in late October and November 2025, following incursions by air balloons carrying smuggled cigarettes from Belarus.
Belarus pushed for consultations between the two countries’ foreign ministries, while Lithuania rejected direct diplomatic talks, having significantly downgraded official contacts after what it described as Belarus’ rigged 2020 presidential election.
Vilnius views the political negotiations with Minsk as an attempt to break the international isolation of Łukašenka’s regime and potentially pave the way for easing sanctions.
Earlier this month, LINAVA, the Lithuanian National Road Carriers Association, sent an official complaint to the European Commission regarding Lithuanian trucks stranded in Belarus. Minsk still reportedly holds 496 trucks and 575 semi-trailers belonging to 149 Lithuanian transport companies.
