How do I import variables from .env in Intellij IDEA Protractor (JS) debug?

Question

I have recently introduced a .env file to a Typescript Protractor project. I installed dotenv package, and run dotenv.config() at the very top of the protractor config file. When executed from console, all works as expected, .env is loaded, everyone's happy.

However when I execute from IntelliJ IDEA's debug tool (configured for Protractor), the .env file doesn't load - even though the code goes through dotenv.config().

I can work around by setting env variables in the debug config, but that has to be done manually, and I would prefer to source these values from the .env file automatically (source .env in a "before launch" script doesn't help either).

Can this be done using just Cucumber.js package? If not, which package would help?