Alexander Lukashenko is throwing cold water on a key piece of President Trump's trade talk. After Trump touted a "massive Deal" to buy discounted potash from Belarus on Monday—calling it "very good news" for US farmers and ranchers—the Belarusian leader said the country doesn't have any to spare, the Hill reports.
- "The pricing would be for substantially less than we are currently paying to Canada, very good news for our Farmers and Ranchers," Trump wrote on Truth Social Monday morning.
- In remarks published by his office, Lukashenko said that even if Belarus wanted to supply the fertilizer ingredient "to other, Western markets, we simply do not have those volumes—everything is contracted."
The overwhelming majority of potash used by American farmers currently comes from Canada. Fertilizer analyst Josh Linville tells Reuters that even if Belarus exports a substantial amount to the US, it won't make much difference to the prices farmers pay. "I'm afraid the impact would be limited. We have not struggled to find potash," he says. "We have more than enough to go around. It is phosphate and nitrogen that we need help with." Supplies of those ingredients have been hit hard by the Iran war.
- The confusion lands as Washington has been courting Minsk through Trump's special envoy John Coale, who is offering sanctions relief in exchange for prisoner releases, the Hill reports. Coale has helped free hundreds, though rights groups say Lukashenko is cycling new detainees in as others get out—a claim he denies, insisting, "There are no political prisoners in Belarus."
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