US imposed sanctions against Belarus for facilitating Russia's invasion of Ukraine | News from Germany about events in the world

The US Treasury Department has imposed sanctions on 24 Belarusian individuals and entities in connection with the “support and assistance” that Minsk provided to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. “These measures are aimed at the defense sector and financial institutions of Belarus – two areas in which Belarus has close ties with Russia,” the ministry said in a statement released on Thursday, February 24.

The sanctions list of the Ministry of Finance, in particular, included two large state-owned banks – Belinvestbank and Bank Dabrabyt, as well as a number of defense industry enterprises and security agencies. In addition, the restrictive measures affected Belarusian Defense Minister Viktor Khrenin, State Secretary of the country’s Security Council Alexander Volfovich and businessman Alexander Zaitsev, a former member of the Cabinet of Ministers, who is part of the entourage of the Belarusian ruler Alexander Lukashenko.

Lukashenka’s regime “is currently endangering the sovereignty of Belarus by supporting further Russian invasion of Ukraine,” US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said. According to her, the US Treasury “continues to undermine the military and financial potential of Belarus through targeted sanctions.”

Sanctions against Russia

In connection with the attack of Russian troops on Ukraine, US President Joe Biden on February 24 announced the introduction of a new package of “crushing” sanctions against Russia, which include, among other things, freezing the assets of large banks and stopping the export of high-tech goods to the country.

The UK authorities have also announced sanctions against both Russia and Belarus for facilitating the invasion.

New sanctions against Russia were also introduced by the European Union, Australia, Canada, and Japan. 351 State Duma deputies who voted for the recognition of the independence of the “DNR” and “LNR”, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova, head of the presidential administration Anton Vaino, head of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation Gennady Zyuganov, deputy speaker of the State Duma Pyotr Tolstoy fell under European restrictions , head of RT Margarita Simonyan and TV presenter Vladimir Solovyov.

See also:

Sanctions against Belarus: who is on the lists and what is banned?
Migrant Crisis – New Sanctions
The Baltic countries and the EU as a whole accuse Alexander Lukashenko of creating a migrant crisis on Belarus’s border with the EU. On December 2, 2021, Brussels introduced the fifth package of sanctions measures. The list includes 17 individuals and 11 organizations. It included “Belavia”, “Tsentrkurort” and “Oskartour”, as well as enterprises “Grodno Azot”, “Belorusneft” and “Belshina”. About sanctions packages adopted earlier – in the DW photo gallery.

Sanctions against Belarus: who is on the lists and what is banned?
A signal to the Lukashenko regime
Aiding illegal migration is one of the reasons for the adoption of sanctions against the Lukashenka regime. Among others – violations of human rights in the Republic of Belarus. On December 2, restrictive measures were also extended by the US, UK and Canada. 20 people have been added to the list of US sanctions, including Lukashenko’s middle son Dmitry, and 12 organizations: Slavkali, Agat, the Belarusian Potash Company, Beltechexport and others.

Sanctions against Belarus: who is on the lists and what is banned?
EU response to violence
Sanctions against Minsk also came as a response to the falsification of the election results and the harsh crackdown on peaceful protests. The United Kingdom and Canada were the first to introduce them in September 2020. London blacklisted eight people, including Alexander and Viktor Lukashenko, at that time the head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Yuri Karaev, and the commander of the Minsk OMON, Dmitry Balaba. Ottawa – 11 people.

Sanctions against Belarus: who is on the lists and what is banned?
The head of the Central Election Commission is on the EU sanctions list
In October 2020, the EU included 40 people on the sanctions list. Among them are the heads of law enforcement agencies, in particular, the now ex-Minister of Internal Affairs Yuri Karaev and the commander of the OMON in Minsk Dmitry Balaba, the head of the detention center on Akrestsina Ivan Sokolovsky. The entire composition of the Central Election Commission, including its head, Lydia Yermoshina, fell under the sanctions. For them, there is a ban on entry into the EU and a freeze on European assets.

Sanctions against Belarus: who is on the lists and what is banned?
Lukashenka on the EU blacklist
Alexander Lukashenko himself was on the EU sanctions list in November. Brussels holds him responsible for the brutal repression in the country. The second list of people subject to sanctions includes Lukashenko’s national security adviser at the time, his eldest son Viktor, press secretary Natalya Eismont, KGB head Ivan Tertel, chairman of the Constitutional Court Piotr Miklashevich and 10 other people.

Sanctions against Belarus: who is on the lists and what is banned?
The third package of EU sanctions
A month later, in December 2020, another 29 high-ranking officials were subject to personal sanctions for political repression and aggressive propaganda, which, in particular, the Belarusian state television is accused of. Among them are Speaker of the Upper House of Parliament Natalia Kochanova, Deputy Prime Minister Anatoly Sivak and Prosecutor General Andrei Shved, as well as the head of the Belteleradiocompany Ivan Eismont.

Sanctions against Belarus: who is on the lists and what is banned?
Penalties against Belarusian enterprises
The list also includes seven enterprises and companies, including the 140th Repair Plant, which repairs tanks, the Agat plant, the Minsk Wheel Tractor Plant (MZKT), which produces wheelbases for weapons systems, and Beltechexport, which sells military equipment to other countries, the developer Dana Holdings and the IT company Synesis, which provides the authorities of Belarus with a platform for video surveillance.

Sanctions against Belarus: who is on the lists and what is banned?
Air boycott after the incident with Ryanair
At the beginning of 2021, repressions in Belarus continued, but Brussels did not impose new sanctions. However, after the forced landing of a Ryanair plane in May and the arrest of blogger Roman Potasevich and his companion Sofia Sapieha, the EU called on European air carriers to avoid flying over Belarus. And since June, the planes of Belavia and other state-owned companies of the Republic of Belarus have been banned from flying over the EU and landing at its airports.

Sanctions against Belarus: who is on the lists and what is banned?
MAZ and BelAZ on the penalty list
In response to the interception of the aircraft, a fourth round of EU sanctions followed. There are 78 more names in it: in addition to Lukashenko’s second son Dmitry and Viktor Lukashenko’s wife Lilia, these are security officials, military officers, judges, university rectors, parliament deputies, as well as businessmen associated with Lukashenko – Mikhail Gutseriev, Aleksey Oleksin, Sergei Teterin. The list also includes eight companies, including MAZ and BelAZ.

Sanctions against Belarus: who is on the lists and what is banned?
EU sectoral sanctions
This package also includes sanctions against key sectors of the Belarusian economy. They prohibit the import of Belarusian oil products and potash fertilizers into the EU, the supply of raw materials for the tobacco industry to Belarus, equipment for intercepting telephone and Internet communications, as well as dual-use goods that can be used for repression. Limited to Minsk and access to European capital markets.

Sanctions against Belarus: who is on the lists and what is banned?
Joint response to Ryanair interception
Together with the EU, the United States, Great Britain and Canada adopted sanctions in response to the interception of the Ryanair plane and the violation of human rights in Belarus. Washington blacklisted five organizations and 16 citizens of Belarus. In it, in particular, Natalya Eismont, Natalya Kochanova, Nikolai Karpenkov, Andrey Shved, Ivan Tertel. London contributed 11 people and two organizations. Ottawa – 17 individuals and five entities.

Sanctions against Belarus: who is on the lists and what is banned?
Large-scale sanctions from the USA
Back in April, the United States resumed sanctions against Belarus, suspended in 2015. 9 petrochemical enterprises were hit. And on the anniversary of the elections on August 9, restrictions were introduced against 23 individuals and 21 organizations. The black list, in particular, includes the National Olympic Committee of Belarus, the Investigative Committee, Belaruskali, Belneftegaz. The White House sees the actions of the Lukashenka regime as a threat to US national security.

Sanctions against Belarus: who is on the lists and what is banned?
New UK and Canadian sanctions
And the UK and Canada introduced in August 2021 sectoral sanctions similar to those adopted by the EU. Trade restrictions affect potash fertilizers, oil products, the supply of goods to Belarus for the production of cigarettes and dual-use technologies. The purchase of Belarusian securities and the provision of loans is prohibited. London also banned the maintenance of the aircraft fleet of Lukashenka and his entourage.

Sanctions against Belarus: who is on the lists and what is banned?
Belarusian opposition “for” sanctions
The democratic forces of Belarus, led by ex-presidential candidate Svyatlana Tikhanovskaya, are confident that economic and political pressure can force the authorities to change their behavior, sit down at the negotiating table with the opposition and hold new, fair presidential elections. The sanctions, in their opinion, are also aimed at ensuring that Lukashenko releases all political prisoners – now there are more than 800 of them in the country.

Sanctions against Belarus: who is on the lists and what is banned?
When will sanctions be lifted from Belarus
The lifting of sanctions will become possible only when the Belarusian authorities fully adhere to the principles of democracy and the rule of law and stop repression, Brussels emphasizes. “The EU will continue to support a democratic, independent, sovereign, prosperous and stable Belarus. The voice and will of the people of Belarus cannot be suppressed,” his statement on the anniversary of the elections says.
Author: Yanina Moroz