U.S. to Remove Belarus Potash Sanctions

The U.S. will remove sanctions on Belarusian potash fertilizers, the key source of foreign-currency revenue for the Russia-aligned nation before Western restrictions stifled their flow, Bloomberg reported. President Trump ordered the sanctions lifted, effective immediately, the Belarusian state-owned news agency Belta cited his special envoy, John Coale, as saying in Minsk on Saturday and as reported by Bloomberg.
“This is a very good step by the United States for Belarus,” Belta cited Coale as saying following two days of talks in the Belarusian capital. “We are lifting them now.” The U.S. may ease more restrictions as its relations with Belarus normalize, potentially reaching the point where no sanctions will remain, Coale said, according to Belta. The announcement follows Trump’s push to rebuild ties with authoritarian Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin. “Washington’s move to lift sanctions may do little to weaken that link unless the European Union lifts its own ban. EU restrictions forbid the flow of Belarus-made potash through Lithuania — once the key export hub for the fertilizers — to the Baltic Sea port of Klaipeda,” said Bloomberg.
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