US eases sanctions on three Belarus potash companies after prisoner release

By Andrius Sytas

VILNIUS, Dec 15 (Reuters) - The United States has granted limited sanctions relief to three Belarusian potash companies following the European country's release of prisoners at the weekend, a U.S. official said on Monday.

Belarus on Saturday freed 123 people from jail, including Nobel laureate Ales Bialiatski and leading opposition figure Maria Kalesnikava, in a deal brokered by U.S. President Donald Trump's envoy John Coale.

In return, the U.S. Treasury Department has authorised certain transactions with state-owned Belaruskali and Belarusian Potash Company (BPC), and with BPC subsidiary Agrorozkvit, the U.S. official said without elaborating.

The relief is conditional on "sustained improvements in behaviour" and Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko's "fulfilment of his pledge to immediately cease all politically motivated arrests", the official said.

WIDE-RANGING SANCTIONS ON BELARUS

Potash is a key component in fertilisers, and the former Soviet state is a leading global producer.

The U.S. and EU imposed wide-ranging sanctions on Belarus after Minsk launched a violent crackdown on protesters following a disputed election in 2020, and tightened the restrictions after Lukashenko allowed Belarus to serve as a staging ground for Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

Landlocked Belarus had previously been exporting the potash through European Union ports, which remains prohibited by EU sanctions. It was not immediately clear if the country would be able to resume any exports as a result of the U.S. relief.

On Monday, the European Union broadened sanctions on Belarus to allow it to respond to actions seen to undermine democracy, the rule of law, and overall security in member states.

Saturday's prisoner release was by far the biggest by President Alexander Lukashenko since the Trump administration opened talks this year with the veteran leader, a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Trump envoy Coale told Reuters last week he believed around 1,000 remaining political prisoners could be released in coming months.

The sanctions can be reapplied at any time, and the U.S. has warned Belarus that it will not tolerate any abuse of the relief to circumvent the sanctions on Russia, said the official.