Lithuanian PM designate: we will be unyielding on sanctions against Belarusian fertilizers

VILNIUS - Vilnius will remain unyielding despite possible pressure to review sanctions against Belarus, including lifting of restrictions on the transit of Belarusian potash fertilizers through Lithuania, Prime Minister-designate Inga Ruginiene has said.

"If we do not continue to push for sanctions and a tough stance on the aggressor, it will be bad. It may happen that the United States will put pressure, but I think we are unyielding here," she said in an interview with BNS on Friday.

Belarusian authoritarian leader Alexander Lukashenko on Thursday released 52 political prisoners, including six Lithuanian citizens.

Shortly thereafter, White House envoy John Coale announced the lifting of US sanctions on Belarusian state airline, Belavia, at a meeting with Lukashenko in Minsk. According to him, the decision was made by President Donald Trump himself.

This sparked discussions that Washington could pressure Lithuania to, among other things, resume the transit of Belarusian fertilizer exports through the port of Klaipeda.

Belaruskali's products had been transported from the Belarusian border to the seaport of Klaipeda for over a decade, but transit shipments stopped in February 2022 after the Lithuanian state-owned railway company terminated its long-term contract with the Belarusian potash fertilizer giant.

The move followed the Lithuanian government's decision, based on the US sanctions, that the contract was not in line with national security interests. In early March 2022, the EU imposed its sanctions on the Belarusian company.

Ruginiene stated that she does not agree that sanctions against Russia and Belarus should be eased.

"On the contrary, I believe that the sanctions package should only be tightened and that we need to do even more," the prime minister-designate said.

She expressed hope that the country's diplomatic corps would work to convince partners that the sanctions package should remain in place and be tightened.

However, when asked whether the easing of sanctions could be discussed in negotiations on the continued presence of US troops in Lithuania, or even on an increase in their numbers, Ruginiene admitted that "it would certainly be possible to talk about it".

Foreign Minister Kestutis Budrys said earlier on Friday that there are no discussions about a possible review of sanctions against Belarus. He also stressed that despite the release of some political prisoners, both the European Union’s (EU) and Lithuania's national sanctions against the Minsk regime remain in place.