US issues new sanctions on Belarusian President Lukashenko
By Kevin Liptak, CNN
The United States applied new sanctions Tuesday on Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, who has allied with Russia in its war on Ukraine.
A number of other Russians, including a judge, were also targeted with sanctions for human rights abuses, according to the US Treasury Department.
The sanctions were applied to Lukashenko as well as his wife, Halina. They would block their property and interests in the United States, and prohibit Americans from engaging in transactions with them.
“Today’s designations demonstrate the United States will continue to impose concrete and significant consequences for those who engage in corruption or are connected to gross violations of human rights,” said Office of Foreign Assets Control Director Andrea Gacki. “We condemn Russia’s attacks on humanitarian corridors in Ukraine and call on Russia to cease its unprovoked and brutal war against Ukraine.”
The US previously applied sanctions to members of Lukashenko’s family in December after a migrant crisis on Belarus’s border with Poland, which led to accusations of human rights abuses.
The US has previously targeted Belarus with sanctions for its role supporting the Russian invasion of Ukraine, including extending export control policies to Belarus and preventing diversion of tech and software to Russia through the country.
In addition to the Lukashenkos, the US targeted four individuals involved in the death of whistleblower Sergei Magnitsky, who died in suspicious circumstances in 2009.
This story is breaking and will be updated.
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