EU countries agreed in principle new punitive measures targeting Belarus to strengthen existing sanctions on Russia, the Belgian EU presidency announced on Wednesday.
"This package will strengthen our measures in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, including combating circumvention of sanctions," the Belgian EU Presidency said in a post on X.
Since the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine, the EU has targeted the Russian economy, institutions and officials linked to the war with multiple rounds of sanctions.
As the invasion drags on, Russia has worked hard to circumvent the punitive measures, to secure more resources for their military and to keep their economy running.
As Russia and Belarus are in a customs union, the new punitive measures on Minsk are meant to close the "the biggest loophole" of the EU's sanction regime, an EU diplomat said.
"Belarus must no longer serve as a route to circumvent our sanctions against Russia," European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on X to welcome the agreement.
Belarus, long-isolated since a crackdown on demonstrators protesting fraudulent elections in 2020, has been sanctioned before by the EU for supporting the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine.
This includes an EU export ban on firearms and aviation technology to Belarus as well as prohibition on transactions with the Central Bank of Belarus.
Belgium chaired the talks as current holder of the rotating EU presidency. An agreement was reached among representatives of the EU countries in Brussels.
The new sanctions must now be finalized by national governments in a process known as written procedure. Further details about the new measures will then be made public.
