Ukraine's MFA Denies That Ukraine Asked Not to Punish Belarus in Latest EU Sanctions Packages

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine has stated that media reports about Ukraine's alleged request to keep out Belarus from the latest EU sanctions are untrue.

According to Oleh Nikolenko, spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, personal (the Lukashenko regime, the military command, propagandists, 25 state bodies and companies of the Belarusian military industry, in particular the Ministry of Defence and the State Security Committee, as well as eight Belarusian companies) and sectoral (the central bank and four other Belarusian banks, a ban on dual-purpose goods, services, deposits, euros, fertilisers, as well as a ban on cargo operators) sanctions have been imposed on Belarus for supporting Russian aggression against Ukraine.

"We are aware of the discussion between the European Union member states on further synchronisation of the sanctions imposed on Russia. Based on our information, a consensus within the European Union has not been reached. Ukraine and its partners are actively working on the substantive content of the tenth EU sanctions package, which adoption is long overdue," the Ministry of Foreign Affairs pointed out.

The mass media reported that one of the reasons why the EU has not punished Belarus on par with Russia in the latest sanctions packages is the request of Ukraine itself.

As reported, Brussels has accelerated work on the tenth package of sanctions against Russia, with EU member state leaders wanting to adopt a new package before the EU-Ukraine summit in Kyiv, scheduled for early February.

The new sanctions for the continuing support of Russia's military actions against Ukraine will be imposed on Belarus. In this case, as one of the diplomats claims, it is about the "synchronisation of Belarusian sanctions with Russian ones, especially sectoral ones, in those areas where Minsk cooperates with Moscow in military terms."