Ukraine intends to join the sanctions imposed by the European Union against Belarusian officials implicated in vote-rigging and violence against peaceful protesters, Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba told BBC Ukraine.
“Ukraine believes that in this situation it’s important to act as a united front. We do everything that is in our power to help the people of Belarus in this difficult situation,” Kuleba said.
At the same time, Ukraine doesn’t plan to impose any economic sanctions, restrict trade or sever diplomatic relations with Belarus, Kuleba said.
On Oct. 2, the EU imposed travel bans and assets freeze against 40 Belarusian officials from the Interior Ministry, Central Election Commission, and Okrestina detention center, the State Security Committee, but not Alexander Lukashenko, the embattled president of 26 years who claimed landslide victory in the Aug. 9 presidential elections widely recognized as not free and unfair.
The EU, Canada, the United States, and the United Kingdom have rejected the results of the elections and condemned violent repressions against peaceful protesters who took to the streets demanding recount. The exit polls showed that Lukashenko’s opponent Svetlana Tikhanovskaya won the elections.
Read More: Lukashenko falsifies election, declares war on Belarusians
Lukashenko’s response to demonstrations was crackdown: dismissals from jobs, mass detentions, and torture. Police brutality sparked even more public outrage against Lukashenko’s regime. Workers went on strikes at state enterprises, journalists walked off their jobs at state media, and over 100,000 people marched through Minsk’s center every Sunday, for seven weeks in a row.
Tikhanovskaya and members of the Coordination Council, an opposition group set up to resolve the political crisis and facilitate transition of power, have been forced to flee abroad. Only opposition leader who remains in Belarus is Maria Kolesnikova. She was arrested after she tore her passport at the border to prevent her deportation.
Ukraine, too, officially refused to recognize Alexander Lukashenko as the legitimate president of Belarus on Sept. 23 after he held a secret inauguration. Kuleba said that Ukraine will not use the title “president” with his name after Nov. 5, when his legal term ends.
The US, Canada, and the UK have sanctioned several Belarusian officials, including Lukashenko.
