Necva Taştan Sevinç
23 September 2026•Update: 23 September 2026
Allowing Belarusian potash fertilizer to transit Lithuania in breach of EU sanctions would amount to a “moral humiliation,” a senior adviser to Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda said Wednesday amid US talks on purchasing the product.
“Any violation of EU sanctions would have a moral aspect -- as well as a legal and financial one… It would be a kind of moral humiliation,” national security adviser Deividas Matulionis told LRT radio.
US President Donald Trump said Monday that Washington was working on a major deal to buy Belarusian fertilizer. Before sanctions were imposed, Belarus exported potash through Lithuania to the port of Klaipeda, raising questions over how any new shipments would reach international markets while EU restrictions remain in force.
Matulionis said a US-Belarus deal would not necessarily require transit through Lithuania and denied that Washington was pressuring Vilnius to allow it.
“We know that America is interested in cheap Belarusian fertiliser and this has been discussed,” he said. “It is not the case that someone is imposing conditions or putting pressure on us.”
He said the issue was discussed with US Special Envoy for Belarus John Coale during his visit to Vilnius last week, but described the talks as an inquiry into Lithuania’s position.
Matulionis added that Lithuania did not want US purchases routed through Russia because doing so would generate revenue for Moscow. He said countries in the region had maintained a common position and that he saw no concessions on transit.
EU sanctions on Belarusian fertilizer are due to expire at the end of February unless renewed, according to LRT.
