EU countries have agreed on new sanctions against Belarus over the war in Ukraine to bring them in line with measures against Russia in a bid to curb sanctions evasion, officials said.
"EU ambassadors have agreed in principle on a new package of sanctions targeting Belarus," Belgium, which holds the EU's rotating presidency, announced, AFP reported.
"This package will strengthen our measures in response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, including the fight against sanctions evasion," the statement said.
The European Union has been pursuing the government of Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko, the Kremlin's closest ally, for allowing his country to be used as a beachhead for Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Aligning sanctions against Belarus with those against Moscow is seen as vital to stem the flow to Russia of banned goods, such as microchips, which could be used on the battlefield in Ukraine
Officials say Belarus has acted as a backdoor for EU-sanctioned products to enter Russia because they can be officially exported to Belarus before heading to its big neighbour.
"Belarus should no longer serve as an avenue to circumvent our sanctions against Russia. With this package, we are stepping up the pressure on both countries and making our sanctions against Russia even more effective," Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said.
Efforts to strengthen sanctions against Belarus, which is in a customs union with Russia, have been stalled for more than a year as efforts to ease restrictions on its lucrative fertiliser exports have been blocked by Lithuania.
Some EU countries have argued that fertiliser exports should be allowed to help ease food supply problems in developing countries.
The Baltic states, however, argued that third countries had already turned to supplies from elsewhere and that removing restrictions on Belarus would result in billions of dollars in revenue for the Belarusian authorities.
EU diplomats said no exemptions had been granted for fertiliser exports.
Prior to Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the EU had already imposed repeated sanctions on Lukashenko's government over its crackdown on protests.
The 27-nation bloc hit Russia with an unprecedented 14 sanctions packages over its war in Ukraine. | BGNES
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