Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko proposed to the US to join the Russian energy giant „Gazprom“ in building a nitrogen fertilizer plant in Belarus, „Reuters“ reported, citing the state agency BelTA, reports News.bg.
Lukashenko said that he had already reached an agreement with Russian President Vladimir Putin on the participation of „Gazprom“ in the project and that a site for the future enterprise had been selected.
„We need to make an offer to the Americans. They want fertilizers, including nitrogen fertilizers. "Come, let's build it together, using your technologies," the Belarusian president said.
According to him, if Washington does not show interest, the project will be implemented jointly with Russia, and the produced fertilizers will be sold on the international market.
So far, there is no evidence that the United States has responded to the proposal.
The idea comes a day after President Donald Trump said that Washington is discussing the possibility of purchasing Belarusian potash fertilizers at a lower price than supplies from Canada. According to Trump, the United States continues to buy Canadian potash, but Belarus offers a lower price.
The proposal for a joint plant is another sign of the restoration of direct contacts between Minsk and Washington after years of highly strained relations. Over the past year, US envoy John Cole has been holding talks with Lukashenko, which are also related to the release of Belarusian prisoners and the partial easing of US sanctions. New groups of prisoners were released in September alone.
At the same time, Belarus remains a close political and military ally of Russia, which makes the possible participation of American companies in a project with “Gazprom“ unusual.
Lukashenko presents the initiative as an opportunity to combine American technology, Russian participation and a Belarusian production base. If Washington refuses, he says Minsk will continue the project with Moscow.
For now, however, this is only a proposal, not an agreed American-Russian-Belarusian project.