Top U.S. officials and Belarus’ democratic opposition leaders this week discussed the Lukashenka regime’s continued support of Russia’s war against Ukraine and Washington’s efforts to hold the regime accountable for its complicity, the State Department said on Friday.

Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman met with Svyatlana Tsikhanouskaya at the State Department. Secretary of State Antony Blinken joined the group for part of the meeting.

“Deputy Secretary Sherman, together with Ms. Tsikhanouskaya, called for an end to the Lukashenka regime’s ongoing crackdown on democratic voices and for the unconditional release of all political prisoners in Belarus and emphasized the United States’ enduring support for the Belarusian people’s democratic aspirations” reads the State Department’s statement.

Speaking to reporters on Friday, Tsikhanouskaya said, during her meetings with key officials in Washington, she discussed both strengthening future sanctions and closing loopholes on existing ones.

She also presented the U.S. government with evidence of Lukashenko’s involvement in the Russian war in Ukraine.

For Tsikhanouskaya, sanctions “must be the same on strength” as those imposed on Russia “but different in structure,” and should target state banks and state enterprises, suggesting the use of secondary sanctions to close such loopholes.

“We see how Russia uses Belarus to circumvent their own sanctions,” she said, citing steel as an example.

Source: Turan News Agency