Ukraine has not decided to impose sanctions against Belarusian officials in connection with the presidential elections in Belarus following the example of European Union (EU) and USA. This is stated in the response of the Office of the President of Ukraine to a request from journalists of Ukrainian News.
The document states that the issue of imposing sanctions “in connection with election fraud and human rights violations” is under consideration. According to Ukrainian law, the decision is made by the National Security and Defense Council and enacted by presidential decree.
December 7, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Dmitry Kuleba , despite promises following The EU and the US to impose sanctions on Belarus, changed his mind and opposed the restrictions. “If we take the current situation in Belarus as a starting point, then I am still against any economic sanctions against Belarusian companies or sectors of the economy,” – declared he.
November 26, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Belarus Vladimir Makey commented on Ukraine’s desire to join the anti-Belarusian sanctions. In his opinion, the policy of the neighboring country is “a mockery of common sense.”
In Belarus, for the fourth month, mass protests continue after the presidential elections on August 9, according to which the candidate for the sixth term Alexander Lukashenko received 80 percent of the votes. The first shares were violently accelerated. Thousands of people were detained, many of them told about torture and beatings in the isolation wards. It is known about those killed by the protesters.
Against this background, relations between Ukraine and Belarus have deteriorated sharply. The President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky publicly recommended Lukashenka to hold new elections, to which the Belarusian side responded that does not need “hackneyed advice”. As a result, Ukraine suspended contacts with a neighboring country and expressed its readiness to join the sanctions imposed by the EU and the United States against Belarus.