They will affect Lukashenko’s entourage and some state-owned enterprises.
The White House announced that the new sanctions will be imposed on June 3. According to the press secretary of the Joe Biden administration, Jen Psaki, the sanctions will affect nine Belarusian state-owned enterprises.
According to Psaki, the US administration, together with the European Union, is also developing sanctions against key members of the Belarusian government.
In a statement released by the White House, the United States, together with the United Nations, the OSCE, the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), the G-7 countries, and NATO, condemn the events related to the forced landing of the Ryanair plane on May 23. “We will continue to call on these structures to take steps against the Lukashenko regime for violating international norms and undermining democracy and human rights,” the statement reads.
Psaki added that the United States is suspending the implementation of the Air Service Agreement between Belarus and the United States, concluded in 2019. In turn, US citizens are not recommended to travel to Belarus, and the Federal Aviation Administration on Friday issued a notice for pilots, which “recommends extreme caution in the airspace of Belarus.”
“We call on Lukashenko to agree to an international investigation into the events of May 23, to immediately release all political prisoners, and to engage in a comprehensive political dialogue with the leaders of the democratic opposition and civil society to discuss free and fair presidential elections under the auspices and control of the OSCE,” the statement said.
In 2004, after the attacks on political opponents of Alexander Lukashenko and the mysterious disappearances of some of them, the United States deprived Belarus of the opportunity to receive American loans, including from international financial organizations.
In 2006, after Lukashenko’s victory in another election held in violation of generally accepted international norms, financial and other sanctions were imposed on nine state-owned companies and 16 individuals, including Alexander Lukashenko and his son Viktor Lukashenko, who are still on the sanctions list.
In 2015, after the release of political prisoners in Belarus, sanctions on state-owned enterprises were somewhat relaxed. The brutal crackdown on peaceful protests by the Lukashenko regime has led to tougher sanctions. Now such large Belarusian companies as Naftan, Belneftekhim, Belshina, Grodno Azot, etc. are located under them.
