The United States has lifted sanctions on three Belarusian fertilizer companies and the country’s state investment bank in exchange for Belarus freeing 250 political prisoners, a move made as the war in Iran continues to drive fertilizer prices higher, according to The New York Times.

Three companies—Belaruskali, Belarusian Potash Company, and Agrorozkvit—sell as much as one-fifth of the world’s potash, a key fertilizer ingredient, making the decision a major economic concession to Minsk and a significant shift in U.S. policy toward the authoritarian government of President Aleksandr Lukashenko, the newspaper said. The sanctions relief follows a separate U.S. move last week to suspend some restrictions on Russian oil as the administration seeks to limit the economic fallout from the Middle East war.

The prisoner release marks the latest step in a broader thaw between Washington and Minsk, the Times reported. Trump’s envoy for Belarus, John Coale, traveled to Minsk to discuss improving ties, including relations between Belarus and neighboring Lithuania, where some of the freed prisoners were resettled on Thursday.

Coale told reporters that Lukashenko could soon visit the United States, the news outlet said. Such a trip would mark a breakthrough for the Belarusian leader, who has ruled for 32 years and violently suppressed mass protests after the disputed 2020 election, according to the report. 

Lukashenko said Belarus and the United States were discussing a range of issues, including sanctions and the possible restoration of normal embassy operations, the newspaper said. The U.S. Embassy in Minsk was shuttered after Belarus allowed Russia to use its territory to invade Ukraine in 2022.

Since late in the Biden administration, U.S. engagement with Minsk has helped secure the release of more than 600 prisoners, according to an advocacy group cited by the newspaper.

Read more at The New York Times