Moscow (Reuters): Last month, Belarus recalled its permanent representative to the European Union (EU) for consultations. One week after the imposition of 27 new sanctions, Belarus responded by hijacking a plane carrying an opponent last month.

The Belarusian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has also instructed the EU envoy to Minsk to return to Brussels for talks.

He said those responsible for the embargo – those targeting Belarus’ main exports of potash, hydrocarbons and access to credit – would be barred from entering Belarus.

With this new embargo on the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom, Western powers are seeking to weaken the rule of President Alexander Lukashenko, while President Alexander Lukashenko’s forces are forcing President Belarus to order the landing of an Irish company Ryanair plane. Minsk on May 23 to arrest journalist Roman Protasevich.

(Report by Anton Kolodyashni and Paulina Ivanova by Alexander Maro; French edition by Mariam Rivet, edited by Jean-Michel Bellott)