The U.S. Ready to Toughen Sanctions against Belarus, Department Of State

U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Philip Gordon said that if the Belarusian authorities didn't release all detained in connection with the events in Minsk on December 19 in the near future, the United States was prepared to toughen sanctions against Belarus. "Much will depend on what Belarus does in the coming days, particularly with regard to the detainees," he said.

Deputy Secretary of State noted that the United States already had  some significant sanctions and visa bans and asset freezes on certain individuals in Belarus and so on. " We will need to make very clear to him (the President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko - Telegraf) that business as usual cannot go on so long as these people are detained and we would be obliged to consider them political prisoners, which actually led to some easing of the sanctions that we had on Belarus that we are looking at reimposing if there's not change in the coming days," Philip Gordon said, the BBC.

State Department spokesman also said that the United States were working very closely in this matter with the European Union which had even more levers at its disposal in terms of preventing Alexander Lukashenko, for example, through the Eastern Partnership and a number of other joint projects. Philip Gordon said that if the policy of the Belarusian authorities did not change, the country could be isolated and dependent on Russia "in a way that it's our understanding they're not interested in."

According to the politician, the U.S. made it clear to the authorities in Minsk that they "hold them responsible for the health and well-being" of the detained opposition members. Meanwhile, as Philip Gordon believes, Belarus, which is, undoubtedly, a European country, has a chance to improve relations with the West. "The door is open. The better relationship is there. He knows what he needs to do in order to have it. And that's what we expect very soon."

Telegraf.By