Lithuania debates reported US request on Belarusian fertiliser transit, plus other weekly news
Politico reported that the US approached Lithuanian diplomats about Belarusian fertiliser transit via the port of Klaipėda. Lithuania's foreign minister denies any such discussion, while a presidential adviser acknowledged an approach.
In LRT English's newsletter of 6 November 2026, the lead item is a Politico report that the United States approached Lithuanian diplomats about allowing Belarusian fertiliser to transit through the port of Klaipėda. The report comes amid fears over US President Donald Trump's warming attitude towards Russia.
A senior adviser to the Lithuanian president did not deny that a discussion took place, but called the reporting outdated: there was an approach, he said, but nothing more. Foreign Minister Kęstutis Budrys later denied any such discussion had occurred, saying nothing of the sort is happening at the moment. A separate report said Washington urged some European countries, including the Baltic states, to tone down rhetoric against Russia; Baltic officials largely shrugged this off.
Other news
Lithuania's former president Valdas Adamkus turned 100 on Tuesday. He is praised for steering the country westward and for respectful dialogue, though his presidency was marked by the disputed privatisation of the Mažeikiai oil refinery and an unclear role in the alleged CIA black site near Vilnius.
An attempt to find the remains of Grand Duke Vytautas the Great in Vilnius Cathedral produced no result; the search continues.
At the Berlin Security Conference, President Gitanas Nausėda urged people to stop calling Russian sabotage in Europe "hybrid", since some operations were "kinetic".
Poland's Orlen, which runs the only refinery in the Baltic states, in Lithuania, says its modernisation is at risk and closure is possible. Some suspect it is staking out a negotiating position as the government considers a windfall-profit tax. AirBaltic is cutting its fleet in Lithuania and dropping Vilnius–Düsseldorf flights; Lithuanian officials plan to appeal. Lithuania's economy shrank by 1%, the sharpest quarterly decline among 15 EU countries that have reported data.
Lithuania has tightened temporary residency rules for non-EU nationals, including closing visa centres in Central Asia, which businesses short of workers criticised. Three Ukrainian nationals were expelled over alleged spying for hostile countries; the VSD intelligence service said they had not yet caused harm.
