Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya commented on an informal letter from the US Department of State sent to the authorities of Lithuania, Poland and Ukraine proposing the lifting of sanctions on Belarusian potash and allowing its transit through their territories. She gave the interview to Radio Svaboda in Prague on the sidelines of the GLOBSEC security conference.
According to the leader of the democratic forces, the position of the democratic movement is unambiguous: now is not the time to ease sanctions against the Lukashenka regime in Ukraine, Lithuania or Poland.
“We must understand that this letter is not an instruction for policymaking. It may be a proposal. But of course, our American partners understand very well that each country decides for itself how to communicate or not communicate with Aliaksandr Lukashenka, because many interests are involved here. Above all, this is about security.
Of course, our position is that now is in no way the time to ease sanctions against the Lukashenka regime in Ukraine, Lithuania or Poland. Because if repression is still ongoing in Belarus and people are still being imprisoned, then there can be no discussion of the systemic changes we are seeking.
A safe and free Belarus is also in the interests of our neighbours. They are not naive and they also understand that while Lukashenka remains in power, objects are flying over Lithuania, Belarus is showcasing the Oreshnik missile system and nuclear weapons, and military exercises are being held. Lifting sanctions here is not the right approach,” she said.
Tsikhanouskaya thanked the United States for its efforts to secure the release of political prisoners and stressed that Washington has enough leverage to achieve the release of all of them. However, she once again underlined the distinction between the two tracks.
“American sanctions are for freeing people, European sanctions are for freeing the country,” the politician stressed.
According to her, this formula had repeatedly been discussed in dialogue with John Coale and Christopher Smith.
“There is currently even greater escalation from the regime — it is impossible even to consider the possibility of lifting sanctions. Our European partners understand this very well. We will, of course, raise this issue during meetings in Ukraine, but I am confident there will be no appetite there for lifting sanctions, because new ones were introduced only recently. And Ukraine, more than anyone else, understands that only systematic pressure on the Belarusian regime and on Russia can stop their aggressive actions.
Therefore, each country chooses its own path. I am grateful to Europe for its principled stance, for its consistency and for its clear understanding of the situation around Belarus,” she added.
As reported earlier, Radio Svaboda, citing a letter from US presidential special envoy John Coale, said that the United States had informally asked Lithuania, Poland and Ukraine to lift sanctions on Belarusian potash to allow its transit. Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry confirmed receiving the letter. The foreign ministries of Poland and Ukraine have not yet responded to Radio Svaboda’s request.
