The European Council said in a statement that the measures “targeting the Belarusian economy, in view of the regime’s involvement in Russia’s illegal, unprovoked and unjustified war of aggression against Ukraine” would mirror “the restrictive measures already in place against Russia.”

The council added that the moves would address “circumvention stemming from the high degree of integration existing between the Russian and Belarusian economies.”

Among the measures coming into effect are tariffs on loads transported to the EU from Belarus and Russia, which will be hiked to 50% to help provide more opportunities for the sale of Ukrainian grain.

Meanwhile, Belarus has been one of the markets through which Russia circumvented earlier sanctions on the highly profitable gold and diamond trade. That door is to be closed off.

Another key measure announced by the European Council is aimed at stopping the avoidance of sanctions by companies re-exporting goods via circuitous trade routes.

The provision of certain services to Belarusian institutions, companies and individuals, such as accounting or legal work, will also fall foul of the new sanctions.

Products exported from the EU will be marked “not for Belarus.”

EU exports to Belarus are now about three times lower than in 2020. However, according to Eurostat, EU exports to Belarus rose by more than a third last year to €8.1 billion.

According to Minsk, Belarusian-Russian trade reached some $53 billion in 2023, rising 6% year-on-year.