The US has lifted personal sanctions on Andrei Rybakov, general director of state potash giant Belaruskali, as Minsk looks to Washington to help soften European sanctions on Belarus, the Kyiv Independent reported.

The Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) removed Rybakov from its Specially Designated Nationals list on October 21, according to a notice on the department's website. He had been under US sanctions since 2021. Potassium fertiliser is Belarus' main export, and Belaruskali its main producer.

The delisting is the latest step in a slow-moving trade of sanctions relief for political prisoners. It comes a month after President Donald Trump's special envoy John Coale visited Minsk and secured the release of 25 political prisoners in exchange for lifting sanctions on two Belarusian companies, a smaller result than expected. Talks have so far freed about 500 prisoners in return for relief on the national airline, the banking sector and potash, but the pace has slowed this year as Minsk's demands have widened to include Europe.

"Given the decisions the US has already taken regarding Belarus, such as removing certain sanctions, the United States can influence European Union states to improve our relations with European states," Valentin Rybakov, Belarus' permanent representative to the UN and one of Minsk's lead negotiators with Washington, told state media after reporting to Alexander Lukashenko on the talks.

The first shipment of Belarusian potash has already arrived at the port of New Orleans and the next is under way, the UN envoy said. "In the near future, obviously, the next shipment will be directed to the US market."

The US issued a general licence in December 2025 authorising virtually all previously prohibited dealings with Belaruskali, and delisted the three entities that produce potash in March. EU and national sanctions in Europe still close the shortest and cheapest export route, through the Lithuanian port of Klaipeda. After visiting Minsk, Coale travelled to Vilnius and Riga to discuss potash transit, he told the New York Times, but Lithuanian Foreign Minister Kestutis Budris has insisted that no EU member can be party to such a deal while EU sanctions stay in place.

Belarus earned up to $2.8bn from potash exports in 2019. It has since restored sales volumes, but not revenue, because it has to sell at a discount.

Potash has also surfaced in the Ukraine talks. According to the New York Times, US negotiators Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner offered Belarusian potash exports as a bargaining chip in a three-part proposal for a partial ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine covering the energy sector or maritime trade.

Minsk wants more. After hearing Rybakov's report on October 22, Lukashenko repeated his demand that the US "fulfil obligations". "For our part, we are faithfully fulfilling what we promised the Americans," he said. The next round of talks, which Coale announced in September for a month later, has not taken place, and Trump has since nominated Coale as ambassador for hostage affairs.