US drawing up targeted sanctions on Belarus officials immediately after plane incident
The Biden administration said on Fri it is drawing up a set of targeted sanctions against key members of the Belarusian government following the former Soviet republic's forced landing of a passenger jet and arrest of a journalist up to speed.White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki said america was also suspending a 2019 agreement between Washington and Minsk that allowed carriers from each country to use the other's airspace, and taking other actions against the federal government of President Alexander Lukashenko.
In a statement, she called on Lukashenko to permit a credible international investigation in to the events of May 23, when the Ryanair passenger jet flying from Greece to Lithuania was forced to area in Minsk. Belarusian authorities scrambled a fighter aircraft and flagged what turned out to be a false bomb aware of force the plane to territory, then simply detained an opposition journalist who was on board, drawing condemnation from European countries and the United States.
Psaki said the United States, with the EU and other allies, was creating a set of targeted sanctions against major members of Lukashenko's federal government "connected with ongoing abuses of man rights and corruption, the falsification of the 2020 election, and the situations of May 23". AMERICA this past year imposed sanctions on eight Belarus officials over an August 2020 election that the West explained was rigged.President Joe Biden said on Tuesday that sanctions against Belarus were "in play", without offering details.
The Treasury Section will establish an executive order for Biden to sign which will provide increased authorities to impose sanctions on components of Lukashenko's government, and the United States will re-impose "full blocking sanctions" on nine Belarusian state-owned enterprises on June 3, prohibiting U.S. folks from working with those businesses. Previous month the United States revoked an authorization for certain transactions with the nine sanctioned state-owned enterprises over alleged human being rights violations and abuses.
