Sanctions

In the wake of the G7 summit it appears that President Joe Biden is taking steps to join together with fellow democracies to stand up to China.

"The military's suppression of democracy and campaign of brutal violence against the people of Burma are unacceptable," said the Treasury Department in announcing the sanctions.

"We note with deep regret that the forced suspension of the agreement will have a negative impact on cooperation with the EU in the field of combating illegal migration and organized crime," Belarus' Foreign Ministry said.

"It's about time European politicians realized that pressure and sanctions are not a language one should use with Belarus," said Belarus' Foreign Ministry.

The Belarusian ministry also warned it would take retaliatory measures against Western companies.

Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko warned the European Union on Tuesday night that Belarus would no longer protect neighboring states Lithuania, Latvia and Poland from immigrants illegally passing through the borders.

EU sanctions against Lukashenko, also known as Europe's last dictator, have gradually increased since Lukashenko won a sixth term in the country's 2020 elections, the results of which the EU says were fraudulent.

"The time has come for the other sides to make decisions," said Abbas Araqchi on Sunday.

"He was the same person before this election as he is after the election," said the White House national security adviser of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, following Ebrahim Raisi's victory in Iran's presidential election.

"Iran has paid the minimum amount due," U.N. spokesman Farhan Haq said on Friday, according to Reuters.

The Biden administration announced Thursday that it was lifting sanctions on three former Iranian officials and two companies it said had been involved in banned petroleum sales, saying the U.S. had "verified a change in status or behavior" on their part.

Britain could face financial sanctions if further delays keep the U.K. and EU from reaching a trade agreement for Northern Ireland.

China's Ministry of Commerce said Thursday that a U.S. move to revoke the Trump administration's executive orders intended to ban apps like TikTok and WeChat was a "positive step."

Russia stands open for "the development of our ties on the basis of mutual respect and with the emphasis on cooperation in areas such as the Arctic issues, relations between regions and business ties where our interests objectively converge," said a spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry.

"There is no way we can have a stable political system, a prosperous economy, or a functioning social system without solving the fundamental problems with corruption," Stefan Yanev, Bulgaria's interim prime minister said.

Belavia director Igor Tcherginets said: "It is evident that these governments planned not only to close their countries for landing by our airplanes, but also, with an especially fascist perversity, they are closing air corridors one by one."

"Belarus produces a great deal of potassium, is one of the world's biggest suppliers," Luxembourg Foreign Minister Jean Asselborn said. "I think it would hurt Lukashenko a great deal if we accomplished something there."

Lukashenko said the journalist and his associates were working with foreign intelligence agencies to "organize a massacre and a bloody rebellion in Belarus."

The EU imposed sanctions on Belarus following the arrest of activist and journalist Raman Pratasevich, banning Belarusian airlines from using the airspace and airports of the 27-nation bloc.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement that Berisha, 76, is accused of misappropriation of public funds and interfering with public processes, among other acts of corruption.

SVR head Sergei Naryshkin suggested to the BBC that the U.K, or the U.S. may have been behind the breach.

The Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control announced it imposed sanctions on 16 people total, with three of them being adult children of three senior military officials previously designated for U.S. sanctions.

"There's still a fair distance to travel to close the remaining gaps," Biden's national security adviser Jake Sullivan said Sunday.

The opposition politician is three weeks into a hunger strike and fears are growing for his life, with his personal doctor having warned he could "die any minute."

John Sullivan has said he would leave Moscow and return to the U.S. as the countries imposed tit-for-tat sanctions.

After the U.S. placed sanctions on Russia as punishment for election interference and the hacking of federal agencies, Russian President Vladimir Putin is weighing his response.

A top Chinese diplomat said the sanctions levied against China for human rights abuses are actually hurting the people of the Xinjiang region.

Russian media reacted strongly to the sanctions imposed by the Biden administration following the 2020 SolarWinds hack.

After the U.S. imposed sanctions on Russia on Thursday, Russian officials warned that President Joe Biden's "aggressive behavior" will trigger retaliation.

Tensions between the two nations have reached their highest levels since 2014, when Russia annexed Crimea and large-scale fighting broke out in eastern Ukraine.