President of Belarus Alexander LukashenkoMINSK, Feb 6President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko said that against the backdrop of Lithuania's ban on the transit of Belarusian potash fertilizers to its ports, Minsk considered the possibility of deliveries through Ukraine, but it eventually refused. transit agreements from February 1 by decision of the government of the country.Lukashenka compared the protests in Belarus and Kazakhstan «Now the problem has arisen with Belarusian potassium chloride. And not because it is potash fertilizers, but because it is 11-12 million tons (per year — ed.). This is a huge mass that needs to be moved. In this is a problem. The Ukrainians proposed, we agreed. Today, it seems, they said that no, we will not ship in Odessa. That is, they were also stopped,» Lukashenka said in an interview for the Solovyov Live YouTube channel. The footage of the interview was shown on the TV channel Rossiya 1 and on the platform LOOK. — ed.)». He noted that as a result, the owners of the terminals refused «in a few days» after voicing this idea. “I understand the trend, but I didn’t think that they would respond in this way… Because they understand that we will ship this potash anyway,” Lukashenka said, commenting on the journalist’s remark that the United States would not allow Kiev to implement such a logistics scheme. He added that the Russian side would help with the export of Belarusian potash fertilizers. In general, characterizing the relations between Belarus and Lithuania, Lukashenka said that the situation was difficult. «The budget was formed at the expense of Belarus. And now what? They think that the Europeans or the Americans will compensate them now? No. Tomorrow the president, the government will change in America, and the new government, as it usually happens, will forget what the old one did and promised,» — said the Belarusian president.Lukashenka answered the question about the war with UkraineOn January 12, the Lithuanian government decided to cancel the agreement on the transit of Belarusian fertilizers from February 1 in the light of the US sanctions imposed on Belaruskali on December 8. On December 21, the Coordinating Commission for Ensuring the Protection of Objects Important to Lithuania's National Security decided that the agreement between the state company Lietuvos Gelezinkelai and Belaruskali did not meet the interests of national security. Based on these findings, the Cabinet decided to terminate the contract. It was signed in 2018 until 2023 and provided for rail transit through Lithuania and loading 11 million tons of Belarusian fertilizers per year in the Klaipeda port. A scandal erupted in Lithuania after the US imposed sanctions against Belaruskali, and Lithuanian Railways continued the transit of Belarusian products through the territory of Lithuania, for which they have already received an advance payment. The heads of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Transport submitted their resignations, but the prime minister did not satisfy the petition. The head of the Latvian Railway, Mantas Bartushka, resigned. Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda said that the situation around Belaruskali had done great harm to the reputation of the state. Against this background, the Lithuanian Ministry of Transport announced plans to propose to the government to impose sanctions against Belaruskali at the national level by passing a law. To this end, the ministry has prepared a bill that prohibits the transit of goods from Belarus. Lukashenko instructed to take retaliatory measures against Lithuania in case of blocking the transit of goods from Belarus. The Belarusian Foreign Ministry said that from February 7, Minsk prohibits the transit through its territory of oil products and fertilizers shipped from Lithuania by rail, loaded at the stations of the Lithuanian Railways.
