Group of U.S. Senators Support Broad Sectoral Sanctions Against Lukashenka's Regime
- 2.06.2021, 8:11
Lawmakers said it was time for the dictator to leave.
A group of U.S. senators supported new sanctions against the Lukashenka regime. The group of senators included Democrat Jeanne Shaheen, Republican Rob Portman and Democrat Chris Murphy, the Voice of America reports.
The lawmakers discussed at a meeting with Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya in Vilnius the forced landing of the Ryanair plane in Minsk and, of course, U.S. sanctions against the Lukashenka regime.
Democratic Senator Jeanne Shaheen called on Lukashenka to immediately release journalist Raman Pratasevich and his girlfriend Sofia Sapega and added that it was "time" for Lukashenka to resign.
"We cannot ignore the fact that this brazen dictator put the lives of more than 120 passengers at risk to commit what the CEO of Ryanair called an act of state hijacking. I admire the response of Europe, the U.S. and the entire global community to this heinous abuse of power. We have united to oppose it. We will not allow such actions to remain unpunished," said Democratic Senator Jeanne Shaheen.
"I'm glad to see the United States and the European Union talking about increasing sanctions," Republican Senator Rob Portman added. - Some sanctions are already in force, but they're not effective enough. After today's meetings, I'm ready to support broader sectoral sanctions, not just those that target individuals.
For his part, Democratic Senator Chris Murphy pointed out that events in Belarus were taking place with the tacit - and not so tacit - approval of Moscow.
"We know that Russia is involved in Lukashenka's actions. He could not have launched such large-scale persecution of political figures without the help of the Russian government. So it's not just an issue between the United States and Lukashenka. It has to be part of bilateral negotiations between our President Joe Biden and Vladimir Putin, that is, between the U.S. and Russian governments," Murphy said.