Sanctions against Belarus stall as US awaits EU consensus

The United States has held off on joining the United Kingdom and Canada in imposing sanctions against Belarus, as European Union states try to overcome an internal dispute on how to carry out the penalties. Speaking on condition of anonymity, three sources on Wednesday told Reuters News Agency that Washington refrained from going ahead with the sanctions because it believed the EU might achieve consensus at the European Council meeting, which starts on Thursday. Gitanas Nauseda, the president of Lithuania, where Belarus’s main opposition leader is in exile, said he expected that the meeting “will be the tipping point for the decision on sanctions against Belarus authorities.” The EU promised in August to impose sanctions on Belarus for alleged fraud in its August 9 election and for human rights abuses since, but Cyprus, one of its smallest members, has proved an obstacle. Cyprus has maintained it will not agree to the Belarusian sanctions unless the EU also puts sanctions on Turkey because of a separate dispute about Turkish drilling for oil and gas in the eastern Mediterranean. style="width: 100%; height: 100%; position: absolute; top: 0; bottom: 0; right: 0; left: 0;">