Belarus introduced retaliatory sanctions against the United States

Belarus imposed retaliatory sanctions against the United States. This was stated by the press secretary of the Belarusian Foreign Ministry Anatoly Glaz.

Among the restrictions are “a reduction in the diplomatic and administrative and technical staff of the American diplomatic mission, tightening of visa procedures, and limiting the work of American specialists in Belarus on a temporary basis. We have also withdrawn the decision on the work of the United States Agency for International Development [USAID] in Belarus.”

With the help of the agency, many projects are being implemented in Belarus, writes Euroradio . In particular, USAID provided financial assistance to the country in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic.

On May 29, the United States announced the suspension of flights with Belarus and the resumption of sanctions against Belarusian state-owned enterprises. This happened after a Ryanair plane flying from Athens to Vilnius on May 23 made an emergency landing at the Minsk airport. He was accompanied by a MiG-29 fighter. It turned out that Roman Protasevich, ex-editor-in-chief of the telegram channel NEXTA, was on board the plane: after landing, he was detained. It also became known about the detention of his girlfriend Sofya Sapega, who has Russian citizenship. She was subsequently arrested for two months.

Many Western countries in connection with what is happening recommended their airlines not to fly over Belarus. A number of states have also banned flights of the Belarusian airline Belavia.