The European Commission aims to halt imports from Russia and Belarus—totaling 3.6 million tonnes valued at $1.41 billion (1.28 billion euros) in 2023—to limit revenue flowing to Moscow's war effort.
Warsaw has also for several years accused Belarus of deliberately pushing migrants into Poland in order to pressure the EU over sanctions.
"This is part of the hybrid war that Russia is waging against democratic countries and the values we share. It is documented that Russia orchestrated over 100 attempts at sabotage around Europe in the past year," Czech Interior Minister Vit Rakusan said on April 3.
White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt said that Russia and Belarus were left off the list because of the already imposed economic sanctions.
The soldiers and their tracked vehicle disappeared on March 25 during an exercise at a training ground near the Lithuanian city of Pabrade, located about 10 kilometers (six miles) from the border with Belarus. Pabrade hosts Camp Herkus, a U.S. military facility.
U.S. soldiers and a tracked vehicle disappeared on March 25 in a training area near the Lithuanian city of Pabrade, some 10 kilometers (6 miles) from the border with Belarus.
Anzhalika Melnikava, the speaker of the Belarusian Coordination Council, disappeared on March 25, and there has been no contact with her since, the council reported on March 28.
Twenty-five individuals and seven entities were sanctioned by the EU on March 27 for undermining democracy and the rule of law in Belarus.
"The decisions in our local life won't be made by the citizens of the aggressor states, but we'll decide by ourselves," Estonian Prime Minister Kristen Michal said after the March 26 vote.
The fate of the four missing soldiers is still unknown, a NATO spokesperson clarified after Secretary General Mark Rutte said they had died. Rescue efforts are currently underway.
"I think, depending on how this fight goes, this defense can be carried out within a week or two at today's inventory levels," Dariusz Lukowski, head of Poland's National Security Bureau, said.
Belarusian dictator Alexander Lukashenko began his seventh term in power on March 25 after declaring himself the winner of the January elections broadly seen as neither fair nor free.
Belarus dictator Alexander Lukashenko visits Moscow, enacting a security treaty and signing a range of agreements that pull Belarus further into Russia’s orbit. U.S. President Donald Trump slashes RFE/RL funding in another blow to Belarusian media in exile. Latvia restricts movement at last open border crossing with
The defense ministers of the four nations argued that the security situation in the region has "fundamentally deteriorated" and that military threats to NATO member states bordering Russia and Belarus have "significantly increased."
Masatoshi Nakanishi has been in custody since July for allegedly spying for for a foreign intelligence agency between 2018 and 2024, local authorities said. Nakanishi's arrest was only publicly announced in September 2024, despite his arrest several months prior.
Russia proposed building a drone factory in Belarus with an annual capacity of 100,000 units. Belarusian dictator Alexander Lukashenko appoints new government ahead of his seventh “inauguration.” Belarus cracks down on the unemployed amid workforce shortages. UN experts urge Belarus to end the incommunicado detention of political prisoner Siarhei
"If we are going to burst through this open door, we will ruin everything we have done," Belarusian dictator Alexander Lukashenko said.
"The borders of NATO moved east in 1999, so 26 years later there should also be a shift of the NATO infrastructure east. For me, this is obvious," Polish President Andrzej Duda said.
Alexander Turchin, who previously served as head of the Minsk regional executive committee, held key government positions, including Chief of Staff of the Council of Ministers in 2016 and First Deputy Prime Minister in 2018-2019.
The plant is expected to produce up to 100,000 units per year but no details were given about the type of drone or if they would be for military use.
"This issue has not been brought up or discussed in any way. But, of course, Minsk is the best place for us. It is our main ally, so it is the best place for negotiations," Dmitriy Peskov said.
"We'll come to an agreement quietly, without noise, without shouting. So tell Trump: I'm waiting for him here, along with Putin and Zelensky."
After 3 years of full-scale war, EU imposes sanctions on Belarus' Integral micro-electronics producer for supplying Russia with microchips for its missiles. Russia, Belarus confirm they will hold Zapad-2025 joint military drills in September. Belarusian dictator Alexander Lukashenko extends the power of local authorities allowing them to approve heads of
The Belarusian company Agroproduct has been using raw materials from Russian-occupied areas of Ukraine’s southern Kherson Oblast to produce rapeseed oil, which it then exported to the European Union.
U.S. Deputy Assistant State Secretary Christopher W. Smith visited Belarus alongside two other U.S. officials in an unannounced meeting on Feb. 12, the New York Times reported, potentially ending Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko's isolation from the West.
President Volodymyr Zelensky said that Russia plans to deploy 15 divisions, totaling 100,000 to 150,000 troops, primarily in Belarus.
Branded a terrorist by Belarusian dictator Alexander Lukashenko’s regime for taking part in Ukraine’s fight against Russia, Vasyl Verameichyk was paraded on state-controlled television in late January for a two-part interview titled "Confessions of a Militant." During the so-called interview, Verameichyk spoke of plans for an alleged incursion
Aleksandr Lukashenko has awarded himself a seventh term as president of Belarus, with the West calling the so-called vote a sham and introducing additional sanctions. Belarusian political observer Artsiom Shraibman told the Kyiv Independent that Lukashenko faces uncertain future after the vote. Hungary refuses to sign joint EU statement condemning
Uzbekistan Airways airliners have changed their routes when flying to Europe to avoid Russian and Belarusian airspace as a "precautionary measure," the Uzbek news outlet Repost reported on Jan. 28.
Belarusian dictator Alexander Lukashenko turned the country's presidential election into "a one-man political show," Ukraine's Foreign Ministry said on Jan. 27.
Belarusian dictator Alexander Lukashenko declared himself the victor in the country's latest so-called presidential elections on Jan. 26, in which no political opposition was allowed to take part. The country's authorities claim Lukashenko won 86.82% of the vote, securing a seventh consecutive term in power. Despite international condemnation and
"The elections in Belarus were transparent and absolutely legitimate. Moscow does not take into account the expected criticism of the elections in Belarus in the West," Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told Russian media.
(Updated: )
