{"id":181258,"date":"2026-03-27T13:23:34","date_gmt":"2026-03-27T10:23:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/181258\/"},"modified":"2026-03-27T16:28:15","modified_gmt":"2026-03-27T13:28:15","slug":"lithuanian-pm-denies-discussing-belarususian-fertilizer-transit-with-us-envoy-coale","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/181258\/","title":{"rendered":"Lithuanian PM denies discussing Belarusian fertilizer transit with US envoy Coale"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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\n (Inga Ruginien\u0117's Facebook account)<\/span>\n <\/div>\n <\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

March 27, Pozirk.<\/em><\/strong> Lithuanian Prime Minister Inga Ruginien\u0117 has stressed that she had \u201cnever, at any level,\u201d discussed the transit of Belarusian fertilizers with John Coale, US special envoy for Belarus, LRT <\/em>reports.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The official cited the existing European Union\u2019s sanctions on Belarusian potash, noting that any resumption of fertilizer transit through Lithuania would require a decision from the bloc.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Vilnius may consider limited engagement with Minsk at the level of deputy foreign ministers, in what would remain a largely technical dialogue, Ruginien\u0117 noted, following Coale\u2019s suggestion of political talks between Vilnius and Minsk. \u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The politician said engagement would be conditional on an end to cigarette-smuggling balloon incursions from Belarus, the return of Lithuanian trucks held by Belarus without additional fees or fines and an end to the irregular migration crisis at the shared border.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Earlier this month, Lithuanian President Gitanas Naus\u0117da rejected the idea of engagement with Minsk during his meeting with Coale, warning that Belarus is seeking to drive a wedge among NATO allies, in particular between the US and the EU.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

Lithuania banned the transit of Belarusian fertilizers in early 2022 in line with US sanctions, while the EU adopted similar restrictions later.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Coale met \u0141uka\u0161enka on March 19 in Minsk to negotiate the release of 250 jailed Belarusian regime critics. Following the talks, the Belarusian ruler\u2019s press office reported that the US lifted sanctions on Bie\u0142investbank and the Development Bank of Belarus, the finance ministry, Bie\u0142aru\u015bkalij and Belarusian Potash Company.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yesterday, the US Department of the Treasury removed Belarusian Potash Company, potash giant Bie\u0142aru\u015bkalij (Belaruskali) and its Kyiv-based subsidiary Agrorozkvit from its Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons (SDN) List.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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