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I’ll show you what sanctions are, Lukashenko warns Poland

28.08.2020 14:00
Belarus strongman Alexander Lukashenko suggested on Friday that he might move to restrict the transit of Western goods if sanctions are imposed on his country over a post-election crackdown on protesters.
Police block the entrance of a church in Minsk where protesters have hidden during a protest rally against the results of the Belarus presidential elections, August 26.
Police block the entrance of a church in Minsk where protesters have hidden during a protest rally against the results of the Belarus presidential elections, August 26. Photo: EPA/TATYANA ZENKOVICH

Lukashenko warned that he would show Poland and Lithuania "what sanctions are," Polish state news agency PAP reported.

Poland and Lithuania “were sending [goods] through our country to China and Russia; now they will be shipping them by air or trading with Russia via the Baltic and Black Sea, and so on,” Lukashenko was cited as saying by PAP.

Lukashenko has previously alleged that Warsaw may be plotting to seize part of his country if Belarus broke apart amid a crisis.

A Polish deputy foreign minister said on Thursday he had told the Belarusian ambassador that Warsaw was concerned about “completely unfounded” accusations by Lukashenko.

Meanwhile, Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said on Thursday his government had urged Russia to ditch any plans for a military intervention in Belarus.

A series of massive demonstrations have swept Belarus this month to protest Lukashenko's claim to a sixth term as president in an election widely dismissed as rigged.

(pk/gs)

Source: PAP