On Tuesday, the Treasury Department’s Foreign Assets Control Office formally lifted sanctions against Belavia and a plane operated by the airline, which the ministry previously said was used by senior officials and members of Lukashenko’s family.
He also issued a general authorization allowing certain transactions related to the use of three previously sanctioned aircraft by Lukashenko or the company Slavkali, which is connected to his authoritarian government.
The aircraft covered by this permit are Boeing 737s owned by the Belarusian government. One of them was used by the state as a presidential plane, the other was part of the fleet of presidential planes.
The third is a luxury helicopter owned by the company Slavkali, which, according to a previous statement by the Ministry of Finance, was used to transport Lukashenko between his suburban residence and Minsk.
This step is the latest manifestation of warming relations between the United States and Belarus after years of US efforts to isolate Minsk, which included the imposition of sanctions on Lukashenko himself, Reuters writes.
Belarus released 52 prisoners in September at the request of US President Donald Trump. It won the promise of sanctions relief for Belavia, the national airline of Belarus, allowing it to carry out maintenance and buy parts for its planes.
A number of US sanctions against Belarus, imposed in connection with the 2020 presidential election in Belarus, which Washington called rigged, with Minsk’s support for Russia and other issues, remain in place, including sanctions against Lukashenko and his family, the agency added.
