New round of EU sanctions against Belarus will help reduce sanctions evasion - Foreign Ministry

RIGA - The new round of European sanctions against Belarus will help to reduce sanctions evasion, the Foreign Ministry's Press Secretary Diana Eglite told LETA.

Eglite noted that one of the tasks of the new sanctions is to align the sanctions against Russia with the sanctions against Belarus.

The European Council has extended sanctions against Belarus, further targeting Minsk for its support for Russia's war against Ukraine.

The new measures will ensure closer alignment between the sanctions imposed on Russia and Belarus and will also help to ensure that the sanctions imposed on Russia cannot be circumvented through Belarus.

Under the new rules, it will be banned to export to Belarus a number of goods and technologies that can contribute to the country's military-technical development.

The European Council also imposed new bans on the export of firearms and ammunition, as well as goods and technology for use in the aerospace industry.

The new sanctions are fast-tracked to ensure that they are not circumvented, the European Commission (EC) said in a statement.

"The EU sanctions imposed on Russia have proven their effectiveness. They restrict Russia's ability to wage war against Ukraine, including its ability to produce new weapons and repair existing ones, and create obstacles to the transport of materials," the EC said.

The EC is determined to make every effort to enforce the sanctions and to fight attempts to circumvent them.

As part of the 11th Russia sanctions package, the EU introduced new measures in June to fight circumvention.

The EU "will continue to support Ukraine and its people together with its international partners, including through additional political, financial, military and humanitarian support as necessary", the EC statement said.