The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine denied the information that Kyiv asked the European Union not to introduce restrictions against Belarus in the latest sanctions packages.
This was announced by the speaker of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Oleg Nikolenko.
He reminded that a number of personal and sectoral sanctions were imposed on Belarus for supporting aggression. "We are aware of the discussion between the member states of the European Union on the issue of further synchronization of the sanctions imposed on the Russian Federation. At the same time, according to our information, there is currently no consensus within the European Union," said Nikolenko.
Radio Libertyʼs Brussels correspondent Rikard Jozwiak, citing his own sources, reported that one of the reasons why Belarus was not sanctioned along with Russia in the latest EU sanctions packages is that Ukraine itself asked not to include Minsk in them.
According to Jozwiak, the head of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, said that the EU is preparing a new package of sanctions against the regime of the self-proclaimed president of Belarus, Aleksandr Lukashenko, in connection with the support he provides to Russia in the war against Ukraine.
- In December, the European Union disclosed the details of the ninth package of sanctions against Russia. They will tighten restrictions on exports to Russia and introduce new sanctions against the banking sector.