Lithuania reacted to the lifting of US sanctions against Belarus: It doesn't concern us

In the European Union, the lifting of sanctions on Belarusian potash fertilizers is not being discussed. This was reported by the Lithuanian Foreign Ministry.

"The United States makes independent decisions on sanctions against the Belarusian regime, which are not related to sanctions from the European Union. There are no discussions in the EU on the lifting of sanctions against the Belarusian regime," the report says.

The Foreign Ministry also noted that none of the reasons why the EU began to apply sanctions to Belarus has disappeared. Among them, Vilnius listed "internal repression," "infringement of democracy," "the use of migration as a lever of pressure," "Russia's assistance in aggression against Ukraine," as well as a "combined hybrid attack."

"The release of political prisoners is an important diplomatic achievement, but Lithuania's position remains unchanged: the actions of Belarus cause great damage to the security of Lithuania, the EU and NATO," the ministry said.

In turn, the chairman of the Seimas Committee on Foreign Affairs, Remigijus Motuzas, said that Vilnius had not received any signals at this stage.

"Lithuania's position on the actions of the Belarusian regime is very firm, and I think that the position among the EU allies has also changed. I think that at this stage [easing sanctions] is not being considered and will not be considered. Of course, you never know how the overall geopolitical situation will change. Although this is very unlikely, it is possible that something will change in Belarus," he said.

In his opinion, in this "exchange of views" with Minsk, the US presidential administration may have allegedly sought to reduce its influence. The Russian Federation in the region.

"We should not forget that The United States of America also has its own pragmatic interests... it cannot be considered that the United States has changed its political or ideological direction, let's be frank — this is a strategic, pragmatic goal that Donald Trump has been talking about since his inauguration. One of such goals is perhaps a slight reduction in Russia's influence in the region, as well as a slight reduction in tensions in the border region, which includes Lithuania, Poland and other EU countries," the parliamentarian believes.

Recall, on December 13, the United States lifted sanctions against Belaruskali, which were introduced in 2021. For their part, the Belarusian authorities have released 123 people convicted of extremist crimes, including a number of well-known oppositionists.