Belarus’s Lukashenko eyes shipping goods to Asia via Russia’s Arctic route

Sanctioned Belarusian exports, such as potash fertilizers, could be shipped on the Northern Sea Route.

Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko during a meeting with the governor of Russia’s Murmansk region, Andrei Chibis, on Thursday said the re-routing of Belarusian exports through more Russian ports was of key importance.

“Under the current conditions, a strategic topic for us is the reorientation of part of Belarusian exports, primarily potash fertilizers, to your ports,” Lukashenko said.

The Belarusian president said Russian President Vladimir Putin had lent his support to the development of cooperation between the Belarusian side and Murmansk — which lies on the Barents Sea north of the Arctic Circle — to export Belarusian goods to Asia via Russia’s Northern Sea Route.

Talking enthusiastically, Lukashenko said: “It’ll be the bomb!”