Lithuania is facing no pressure from the United States over the transit of Belarusian fertilisers, President Gitanas Nausėda said on Friday.
“There is no pressure,” the president told reporters during a visit to the Padvarionys border checkpoint.
His comments follow remarks by Foreign Minister Kęstutis Budrys during a closed-door meeting with the Social Democratic parliamentary group, in which he reportedly acknowledged US pressure regarding the transit of Belarusian fertilisers through Lithuania. According to sources, Budrys suggested that such pressure might also be applied to other countries in the region.
Budrys later declined to confirm his statements but said there was “additional activity” from the US on the issue.
Nausėda said Lithuania could not change the policy unilaterally as the restrictions are part of European Union sanctions.
“Since these are European sanctions, not national ones, we could not change anything even if we wanted to,” he said.
He added that Belarus continues to support Russia’s war in Ukraine, arguing there is no justification for easing sanctions at this stage.
“The Belarusian regime is not changing its nature and continues to actively assist Russia,” he said. "Therefore, in any discussions that might arise in Europe after these nine months, if the situation remains unchanged, I would advocate for the extension of those sanctions."
Lithuania suspended the transit of Belarusian potash fertilisers in 2022 as part of EU sanctions imposed in response to human rights violations in Belarus and Minsk’s support for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
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