The Wall Street Journal reports that the US authorities are considering the option of partially lifting sanctions against Belarus in exchange for opening a railway corridor for the export of grain from Ukraine
Namely, the idea of lifting sanctions on the import of Belarusian potash fertilizers for six months is being discussed, the newspaper reports. However, no official proposal on this matter has been formulated at the moment, and the administration of the US President continues to study all possible options.
Representatives of the US State Department believe that Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko will not agree to these conditions, given his close ties with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Meanwhile, representatives of the National Security Council (NSC) of the White House consider the idea difficult to implement, but viable.
The global food market may face a serious food shortage this year as a result of Russia’s military operation in Ukraine, due to which the export of Ukrainian grains was blocked, the WSJ notes.
“We are actively exploring options by which the international community can restore Ukrainian exports and mitigate the impact of Russian aggression on global food shortages,” an NSC spokesman said in response to an inquiry from the WSJ. “We are calling on Russia to enable the safe movement of commercial ships to and from Ukrainian ports on the Black Sea, which it is currently blocking, so that ships can provide vital food supplies to countries around the world.”
UN countries support the temporary lifting of sanctions against Belarus, the newspaper notes. The possible opening of the Minsk railway corridor would ensure the export of large volumes of Ukrainian grain to the world market bypassing the Black Sea – through the territory of Belarus and Lithuania to the Lithuanian port of Klaipeda on the Baltic Sea.
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