US Withdraws Wind-Down License for 9 Sanctioned Belarus Entities - Blinken
The United States has revoked a license that allows US businesses to conduct limited transactions with nine designated Belarusian entities and will subject the entities to the full force of sanctions after 45 days, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Monday
"The nine state-owned enterprises affected by this action finance and support the Lukashenka regime, facilitating its violent repression of the Belarusian people and repeated rejection of the rule of law," Blinken said in a statement, referring to Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko.
Blinken noted that the US has renewed the license on an annual basis every year since 2015. But this year, in response to alleged rights abuses in Belarus, the US will now give businesses only "a 45-day wind down of transactions" before they will risk sanctions for conducting transactions with the nine designated entities.
The Treasury earlier on Monday issued the new general license, giving US businesses until12:01 a.m. eastern daylight time, June 3, 2021, to halt all transactions with the sanctioned firms.