Lukashenko dampens Trump's hopes for Belarusian potash
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Belarus does not have enough potash to satisfy U.S. demands, Belarusian dictator Alexander Lukashenko said on Sept. 21, after Washington touted a major fertilizer deal with Minsk.
“Even if we wanted to supply (potash) to Western markets, we simply do not have those volumes — everything is contracted," Lukashenko said during a meeting with Belarusian State Customs Committee Chairman Vladimir Orlovsky, as reported by Lukashenko's press service.
U.S. President Donald Trump announced the same day preparations for a "massive" potash deal with Belarus, presenting it as a cheaper alternative to Canadian supplies.
"The United States is working on a massive Deal with respect to the purchase of Potash from Belarus," Trump announced on his Truth Social media platform, calling it "very good news for our Farmers and Ranchers."
The Trump administration agreed to lift economic restrictions on Belarusian potash exports in December 2025 in exchange for Belarus freeing over 100 political prisoners — part of a broader thaw in U.S.-Belarusian relations.
While Lukashenko claimed on Sept. 11 that Belarus has begun selling potash to the U.S., he warned that a sharp increase in exports is currently impossible, as this year's supplies have already been contracted.
Canada and Belarus are the world's first- and third-largest exporters of potash, respectively, with the fertilizer being a key export commodity for Minsk.
Reports emerged in the spring of 2026 that the U.S. was asking Lithuania, Poland, and Ukraine to allow Belarusian fertilizers to transit through their territories.
Belarus, a landlocked country lodged between Ukraine, Russia, and NATO's eastern members, has been a key ally of Moscow during the all-out war, allowing Russian forces to use its territory as a staging ground for attacks on Ukraine in 2022.
