United States has lifted the sanctions imposed on the Belarusian state airline, Belavia. The announcement was made in Minsk by White House envoy John Coale during a meeting with President Alexander Lukashenko.
“I want to state here and now, in a fully official capacity, that we have lifted the sanctions on Belavia. It is official. President (Donald Trump) said this should be done immediately,” Coale stated, according to the state news agency BELTA.
Path Toward Normalization
According to the U.S. official, Washington seeks to normalize relations with Belarus and is willing to move forward in that direction. “The recently announced lifting of sanctions is only the beginning,” he affirmed.
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The restrictive measures against Belavia had been imposed by the United States in 2022, one year after the European Union applied its own sanctions. Both decisions were in response to the forced landing of a Ryanair flight from Athens to Vilnius, which was carrying opposition journalist Roman Protasevich, who was detained following the incident.
Lukashenko Proposes a “Grand Deal”
In response to the announcement, Lukashenko expressed willingness to negotiate a broad agreement with Trump, conditional on the release of Belarusian political prisoners.
“I am ready to discuss this issue. And if Donald insists that he is willing to accept all these released individuals, then God bless you, let’s try to reach a grand deal,” the leader stated.
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Plataforma Informativa de Aviación Comercial con 13 años de trayectoria.
