{"id":179749,"date":"2026-03-17T15:00:56","date_gmt":"2026-03-17T12:00:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/179749\/"},"modified":"2026-03-17T15:00:58","modified_gmt":"2026-03-17T12:00:58","slug":"belarus-to-notify-lithuania-poland-on-fate-of-hundreds-of-seized-trucks","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/179749\/","title":{"rendered":"Belarus to notify Lithuania, Poland on fate of hundreds of seized trucks"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

March 17, Pozirk.<\/em><\/strong> The Belarusian government will \u201cnotify partners from Lithuania and Poland\u201d of its decision, Deputy Foreign Minister Ihar Siakreta said after a meeting in Minsk earlier today between Prime Minister Alaksandar Tur\u010dyn and executives from Lithuanian and Polish trucking companies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The executives are demanding that Minsk release hundreds of trucks held in Belarus since November, in what appears to be a major dispute with neighboring countries over assets and politics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Minsk maintains that the issue requires direct high-level talks, while Vilnius argues that the Belarusian government is holding the trucks hostage in an attempt to break its international isolation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt was very interesting for us to listen, because we don\u2019t have an official channel of communication with Vilnius. We were not even able to receive relevant information from the Polish side,\u201d Siakreta complained.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, the meeting did not produce a breakthrough. The cabinet issued a statement that did not clarify whether the trucks would be released or why the authorities had refused to do so until now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Belarusian officials stressed only that the trucking companies must pay all parking and security fees, which executives described as exorbitant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cForeign carriers have effectively been left to fend for themselves by their own governments,\u201d the Belarusian cabinet said. \u201cDue 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.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the meeting, Tur\u010dyn said Minsk had been proposing talks with Lithuania for four months and blamed Vilnius for ignoring these requests. He added that the Belarusian side could confiscate the vehicles but had no intention of doing so.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Minsk barred Lithuanian trucks from leaving the country after Vilnius closed the Medininkai\u2013Kamienny \u0141oh and \u0160al\u010dininkai\u2013Bieniakoni border checkpoints for three weeks in late October and November 2025, following incursions by air balloons carrying smuggled cigarettes from Belarus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Belarus pushed for consultations between the two countries\u2019 foreign ministries, while Lithuania rejected direct diplomatic talks, having significantly downgraded official contacts after what it described as Belarus\u2019 rigged 2020 presidential election.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Vilnius views political negotiations with Minsk as an attempt to break the international isolation of \u0141uka\u0161enka\u2019s regime and potentially pave the way for easing sanctions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Speaking at a government conference on December 9, the Belarusian leader outlined what Minsk would like to discuss in potential talks with Vilnius.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cGive us back the 17 or 20 trucks that you stole \u2014 the fire engines we shipped to Zimbabwe. Normalize operations at our health resort, where we treated children affected by Chernobyl. They actually took the resort away from children. And give us back the money we spent on building a port [in Lithuania],\u201d he was quoted as saying by state media.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u0141uka\u0161enka was likely referring to the Belorus health resort in Druskininkai and Bie\u0142aru\u015bkalij\u2019s 30 percent stake in Biri\u0173 Krovini\u0173 Terminalas (BKT), a dry cargo terminal in Klaip\u0117da.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lithuania suspended the transshipment of Belarusian fertilizers through the port of Klaip\u0117da on February 1, 2022, citing human rights abuses by Minsk. Bie\u0142aru\u015bkalij has been under EU sanctions since 2021.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In August 2022, the Belarusian leader accused Lithuania of expropriating Bie\u0142aru\u015bkalij\u2019s assets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Earlier this month, LINAVA, the Lithuanian National Road Carriers Association, filed an official complaint with the European Commission regarding Lithuanian trucks stranded in Belarus. Minsk is still reportedly holding 496 trucks and 575 semi-trailers belonging to 149 Lithuanian transport companies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n
\n \"\"