The United Nations said after a meeting between UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and Belarus's deputy foreign minister that Minsk has agreed to allow shipments of Ukrainian grain across its territory bound for Lithuanian ports "without preconditions."
The permission could aid international efforts to mitigate the fallout from Russia's 9-month-old invasion of Ukraine amid an international food crisis due in part to the resulting obstacles to Ukrainian grain and other exports.
The UN said Deputy Foreign Minister Yury Ambrazevich repeated Minsk's request to be allowed to export its own fertilizer.
"The deputy foreign minister informed the secretary-general that Belarus will accept, without preconditions, the transit of Ukrainian grains through its own territory for export from Lithuanian harbors," a UN press release said.
Ukraine is a leading global exporter of wheat and other grain, but farming and exports were badly hit when tens of thousands of Russian troops attacked in late February.
After months of stoppage due to a Russian embargo to keep clamps on Ukraine, the United Nations and Turkey brokered a deal with Moscow and Kyiv in July to resume Ukraine's Black Sea shipments of grain.
Other food and fertilizer shipments were also to be facilitated.
Russian shipments of ammonia, a key component of fertilizer, via a pipeline to a Ukrainian port are still hampered.
Fertilizer is a major source of revenues for the Belarusian economy and Aleksandr Lukashenka's embattled regime, which has been hard-hit by the war's effects.
Minsk already faced heavy Western sanctions after Lukashenka claimed victory in a 2020 presidential election marred by fraud and disqualifications dealing a blow to reform hopes for the post-Soviet state of about 9 million people.
But Lukashenka's decision to allow Russian troops to use Belarusian territory to stage offensives against Ukraine has furthered his isolation and arguably increased his reliance on Russian President Vladimir Putin to remain in power amid a crushing crackdown on Belarus's opposition and the media.