Belarus earlier this week forced the landing of a jetliner carrying Pratasevich, a Belarusian journalist and outspoken critic of the Lukashenko regime, as it was traveling between Greece and Lithuania.
Biden officials have announced that they will once again impose sanctions on nine Belarusian state-owned enterprises and impose additional fines on the administration of President Alexander Lukashenko's administration over the forced arrival of Ryanair Holdings Plc and the arrest of an opposition journalist.
Authorities also issued a "Do Not Go" warning to U.S. citizens urging them to stay away from Belarus, and issued a warning to U.S. pilots to "be very careful" when considering a flight to Belarus airport, said White House press secretary Jen Psaki. in a statement Friday night.
The Treasury Department is also preparing a high order "that will give the United States more authority to impose sanctions on Lukashenko's state, its support network, and those who support corruption, human rights abuses, and democratic attacks," Psaki said.
"The imposition of Belarus on a Ryanair commercial plane under the pretense, traveling between the two member states of the European Union, and the removal and arrest of Belaman Pratasevich, a Belarusian journalist, is a direct violation of international law," Psaki said in a statement.
Read more: Why the Belarussian detention of an opposition journalist seems unwelcome
Belarus earlier this week forced the arrival of planes carrying Pratasevich, a Belarussian journalist and a clear critic of Lukashenko's regime, as it traveled between Greece and Lithuania. Pratasevich, 26, has been arrested in Minsk with his girlfriend, Sofia Sapega, despite international demands for their release.
European Union officials on Thursday elaborated on their plans for sanctions against Belarus that will affect economic sectors near Lukashenko, including the country's potash industry. That could have far greater consequences than the sanctions announced by the White House; US-Belarus trade is estimated at only $ 112 million by 2020, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
The announcement came after some lawmakers earlier this week called on the Federal Aviation Administration to completely block US flights from entering Belarus' airspace after the incident. The United States is suspending its use of the 2019 U.S. U.S-Belarus Air Services Agreement, the White House said.
The FAA on Friday urged airlines operating over Belarus to exercise "extreme caution," but lifted the ban on air traffic jams in the region. The European Union's air safety regulator has advised flights to avoid Belarus' airspace.
Russia has supported Lukashenko over the past quarter, including during a brutal crackdown on dissent last year, as well as during Moscow's struggle for unity and economic closeness. He has been playing smart in the EU and Russia to maintain his independence, but now the Kremlin sees an opportunity to attract the country in its path.
Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda, who crosses Belarus, told Bloomberg TV on Friday that Russia intended to use the issue. "There are attempts by the Russian government to overthrow Belarus as an independent state," he said.
Russian President Vladimir Putin, who will meet with President Joe Biden in Geneva next month, played with Lukashenko in the Black Sea region of Sochi, greeting him warmly on Friday.
"I'm so glad to see you," Putin said, acknowledging as Lukashenko downplayed Western criticism of the plane crash as an "emotional outburst."
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