EU sanctions against Belarus can impact Russia's capabilities - Estonia's Foreign Minister

Photo: Margus Tskhna, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Estonia (Getty Images)

The restrictions imposed by the European Union against Belarus will affect Russia's ability to circumvent sanctions and obtain goods for the war in Ukraine, according to the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Estonia Margus Tsahkna.

According to him, after the sanctions against Belarus came into effect on July 1, it became more difficult for Russia to circumvent Western restrictions.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs explained that the current sanctions against Belarus are better linked to restrictions against Russia than the previous ones.

"This reduces Russia's ability to gain access through Belarus to some goods that Russia needs on the battlefield in its aggression against Ukraine," Tsakhna said.

He noted that Russia has long been able to receive sanctioned goods through Belarus. But the new restrictions make it much more difficult.

What happened before

A few days ago, it became known that the European Council had extended anti-Russian sanctions to Belarus.

The agency emphasized that such a step solves the problem of circumventing sanctions, as there is a high level of integration between the Russian and Belarusian economies.