Lukashenko's planes are back in service: The United States changes its sanctions policy

The US Treasury Department announced on Tuesday that it would approve transactions related to the operation of Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko's aircraft. The US Office of Foreign Assets Control has issued a general license that unblocks three Belarusian aircraft associated with Lukashenko, which had previously been designated as blocked property by the US.

The US has imposed sanctions on Belarus since 2020 in response to fraud in the presidential elections and repression of the opposition.
On the same day, the US imposed new sanctions on North Korea. They affect eight individuals from the DPRK, China, and Russia. The sanctions also targeted the technology company Korea Mangyongdae Computer Technology and Ryujong Credit Bank.

These are sanctions that punish third parties for violations of the current sanctions regime. The US has been imposing sanctions on North Korea since 2008. They are based on United Nations resolutions.

The sanctions regime focuses on the financing of the nuclear program through cyberattacks. According to the Office of Foreign Assets Control, North Korean hackers have stolen more than $3 billion since 2022. These newly imposed sanctions extend the scope of the sanctions regime to networks in China and Russia.

(reuters, sie)