Sybiha: No illusions that sanctions relief can pull Belarus out of Russia's sphere of influence

Ukraine opposes any easing of sanctions against the aggressor, including the lifting of restrictions on the Belarusian potash giant Belaruskali, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha has said.

According to an Interfax-Ukraine correspondent, he said this at a press conference following a meeting with head of the United Transitional Cabinet of the Belarusian democratic opposition Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya in Kyiv on Monday.

"There should be no illusions that someone, through some kind of concessions, will be able to pull Belarus out of Russia's sphere of influence. This will not happen. The Lukashenko regime is too deeply incorporated and integrated into this criminal combination with the Russians. Therefore, we must act decisively. And I repeat once again: our goal is to prevent threats of dragging the Belarusian people and Belarus into someone else's war," the foreign minister said.

Answering a question on whether partners are trying to persuade Ukraine to ease sanctions pressure on Belarus, Sybiha said Ukraine "rejects any approaches related to reducing pressure on the aggressor."

"On the contrary, now is precisely the moment to increase and strengthen pressure, so such proposals and initiatives have no right to exist. On the contrary, today we received from the Belarusian side an additional vision and position paper on the sectors that should be covered by sanctions regimes – both Ukrainian and European. We will continue working on this," the minister said.

Earlier, media reported that the United States had officially appealed to Lithuania, Poland and Ukraine to lift sanctions on Belarusian potash in order to allow the transit of this product through their territory.

According to Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, in addition to easing restrictive measures against the Belarusian potash giant Belaruskali in March, Washington also removed its marketing arm, Belarusian Potash Company, as well as Agrorozvitok, from the sanctions list. This followed an agreement on the release of 250 political prisoners in Belarus.

As reported, sanctions against Belaruskali have been in force since 2021. This year, the European Union unanimously extended economic sanctions against Belarus for another year. These measures include a ban on imports of Belarusian potash fertilizers and targeted sanctions against companies such as Belaruskali.