The head of the US State Department, Mike Pompeo, did not rule out the introduction of sanctions against Belarus, as well as the suspension of oil supplies to the republic due to the political situation, RIA Novosti reports.
According to him, the American authorities will consider the issue of the possible introduction of a sanction and the termination of the supply of petroleum products. At the same time, Pompeo stressed that it is more important for the United States to achieve “a good result for the Belarusian people – regardless of whether it will be sanctions or decisions on the supply of (oil) products.”
“These things have not yet been determined,” added the head of American diplomacy.
Pompeo on Wednesday criticized the presidential elections in Belarus, calling them unfree and unfair.
Earlier this week, the head of EU diplomacy, Josep Borrell, said that the EU is studying the possibility of sanctions against those responsible for police violence in Belarus.
On August 9, presidential elections were held in Belarus. According to the CEC, the current head of state Alexander Lukashenko won 80.08% of the vote, opposition leader Svetlana Tikhanovskaya was supported by 10.09% of voters. Tikhanovskaya’s headquarters did not recognize the results of the vote, the protesters took to the streets. The politician herself left the republic.
After the announcement of the preliminary results, unauthorized protests began in Minsk and other cities of Belarus, which resumed in the following days. Both civilians and security officials suffered, one person died. Thousands of protesters were detained.