EU agrees on Belarus sanctions to target Russia’s circumvention

European Union ambassadors agreed to a new package of sanctions on Belarus as the bloc tries to crack down on Russia’s circumvention of penalties imposed over its invasion of Ukraine.

“With this package we increase the pressure on both countries & make our sanctions against Russia even more effective,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said in a post on X. 

The latest package focuses mostly on goods that could be used for military purposes but falls short of aligning the penalties completely with those imposed on Russia. Moscow maintains a customs union with Belarus. 

The bloc last week agreed to a 14th package of sanctions on Russia, targeting Russia’s shadow fleet of tankers, and transshipments of liquefied natural gas to third countries.