Russia is reaping a financial windfall from the U.S.-Israel war against Iran, as supply disruptions in the Middle East drive up global fertilizer prices and sharpen debate in Europe over whether to ease curbs on Russian exports, the Financial Times reported.

Russia accounts for 23 percent of global ammonia exports and 14 percent of urea exports, while Russia and Belarus together supply 40 percent of potash, the Financial Times said. Middle East urea prices, the global benchmark, have risen 44 percent since the war began to more than $670 a ton, according to the report.

The price shock is feeding sanctions pressure inside Europe. Belarusian potash remains banned in the EU, while tariffs and duties still apply to nitrogen fertilizers from Russia and Belarus. Russian fertilizer exports to the bloc were worth about €2 billion last year, though volumes have declined since new levies introduced in 2025 began taking effect, the report said.

Hungary has asked Brussels to ease fertilizer restrictions, warning that reduced access to cheaper imports could lower yields and raise food prices, particularly in countries dependent on imported phosphorus and potash, according to the FT.

The sanctions picture is also shifting beyond the EU. Washington said last week it would ease sanctions on several Belarusian producers, including state company Belaruskali, potentially allowing more exports, the newspaper reported.

The Kremlin is portraying the commodities turmoil as a chance to restore Russia’s central role in global markets after years of sanctions over President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine. Moscow is already receiving up to $150 million a day in extra oil revenue from the war-driven price surge, and this week temporarily halted ammonium nitrate exports to prioritize domestic producers, underlining its ability to sway tight markets, the FT said.

“An official from an Asian or African country who needs urea before the monsoon does not discuss the Ukrainian question. He calls the Kremlin, and the Kremlin picks up,” Alexandra Prokopenko, a fellow at the Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center in Berlin, told the FT.  “Russia can convert market power into political rent, extracting geopolitical returns by positioning itself as an irreplaceable supplier.”

Read more at the Financial Times