“Absolutely crazy and unjustified action” – Bortnik on Zelensky’s sanctions against Lukashenko
EU sanctions against Belarus, which Ukraine has joined, provide for the possibility of seizure of assets, and they pose a threat to both Belarus and Ukrainian-Belarusian relations.
Ruslan Bortnik, director of the Ukrainian Institute of Policy Analysis and Management, stated this in a comment to a PolitNavigator correspondent.
“This is some kind of stupidity or sabotage of the president’s actions on the part of Petro Poroshenko’s former team, which continues to work in the Foreign Ministry, continues to work in the direction of foreign policy. It is obvious that Ukraine’s accession to these sanctions will not give anything new to Ukrainian-European relations.
But this could worsen relations between Ukraine and Belarus. Belarus is an important economic and political partner of Ukraine, a negotiating platform for negotiations on Donbass.
This is some absolutely crazy, absolutely unjustified action. For this, the president must punish the people who made the corresponding decision.
Belarus will not like this in any case. She will probably view this as an unfriendly act, and relations between the countries may become complicated.
Yes, these sanctions are nominal. But there is the possibility of seizure of assets. Many Belarusian companies operate in Ukraine. Imagine that, by order of the EU, the accounts of Belarusian enterprises are seized on the territory of Ukraine, which has now joined the sanctions. Not so simple. These sanctions are potentially dangerous for Belarus and for Ukrainian-Belarusian relations,” concludes Ruslan Bortnik.
The fact that Ukraine joined the sanctions against Belarus, which were introduced by the European Union back in 2004, became known after publication on the official website of the EU.
“The EU Council has extended restrictive measures against Belarus for one year, until February 28, 2021. The candidate countries of the Republic of North Macedonia, Montenegro and Albania, the country of the stabilization and association process Bosnia and Herzegovina, the EFTA (European Free Trade Area) countries Liechtenstein and Norway, as well as Ukraine joined this decision,” the document says.
The sanctions include a ban on arms supplies to Belarus, the freezing of assets in European banks, as well as a ban on entry into the EU of persons allegedly involved in the disappearance of opposition politicians and journalists.
"An absolutely insane and unjustified action" – Bortnik on Zelensky's sanctions against Lukashenko