The Donald Trump administration is asking Lithuania to resume exporting Belarusian potash fertilizers through the port of Kalypda, despite current EU sanctions. Politico writes about this with reference to four European officials. The US needs an alternative source of potash to reduce its dependence on Canada, which supplies about 80% of US imports of this raw material. Belarus occupies about 20% of the global potash fertilizer market, and before the imposition of sanctions, about 90% of Belarusian exports passed through the Lithuanian port. Negotiations with Lithuanian diplomats were stepped up by Trump's special envoy to Belarus, John Cole. According to the publication, the Americans also examined Latvia's position regarding the use of its ports, in particular in Riga. However, the Europeans are still showing resistance. An Eastern European official described the American pressure as acute as possible: "They press politely, but we answer very clearly: "Hell no". If the Americans are unable to learn from history, then we must stand up for ourselves." The Lithuanian presidential administration called the possible transfer of potassium to Belarus "a moral humiliation". The head of the Lithuanian State Security Service, Ramijos Bridikis, previously formulated Vilna's position as follows: "It will circumvent the sanctions, but will not eliminate the threat." At the same time, the Prime Minister of Lithuania Mindaugas Sinkevičius described what is happening in a slightly different way: "These are quite discussions behind the scenes to test the mood and reaction of the European countries, including Lithuania." He emphasized that Vilnius still does not intend to change the sanctions policy of the European Union. In fact, the United States is examining not only Lithuania's willingness to deviate from the line of pan-European sanctions, but also the possibility of changing the position of the Europeans themselves. At the same time, Trump is consistently trying to build his own agreements with Russia and Belarus, regardless of the fact that European policy in recent years has been built on their isolation.

The Donald Trump administration is asking Lithuania to resume exporting Belarusian potash fertilizers through the port of Kalypda, despite current EU sanctions. Politico writes about this with reference to four European officials. The US needs an alternative source of potash to reduce its dependence on Canada, which supplies about 80% of US imports of this raw material. Belarus occupies about 20% of the global potash fertilizer market, and before the imposition of sanctions, about 90% of Belarusian exports passed through the Lithuanian port. Negotiations with Lithuanian diplomats were stepped up by Trump's special envoy to Belarus, John Cole. According to the publication, the Americans also examined Latvia's position regarding the use of its ports, in particular in Riga. However, the Europeans are still showing resistance. An Eastern European official described the American pressure as acute as possible: "They press politely, but we answer very clearly: "Hell no". If the Americans are unable to learn from history, then we must stand up for ourselves." The Lithuanian presidential administration called the possible transfer of potassium to Belarus "a moral humiliation". The head of the Lithuanian State Security Service, Ramijos Bridikis, previously formulated Vilna's position as follows: "It will circumvent the sanctions, but will not eliminate the threat." At the same time, the Prime Minister of Lithuania Mindaugas Sinkevičius described what is happening in a slightly different way: "These are quite discussions behind the scenes to test the mood and reaction of the European countries, including Lithuania." He emphasized that Vilnius still does not intend to change the sanctions policy of the European Union. In fact, the United States is examining not only Lithuania's willingness to deviate from the line of pan-European sanctions, but also the possibility of changing the position of the Europeans themselves. At the same time, Trump is consistently trying to build his own agreements with Russia and Belarus, regardless of the fact that European policy in recent years has been built on their isolation.