The decision by US President Donald Trump to lift sanctions on the Belarusian airline «Belavia» paves the way for the supply of crucial aviation parts to Russian airlines, which Washington is trying to prevent, writes Politico. While the US has allowed the sale of parts to «Belavia», they are trying to ban the airline from flying to Russia, although such a restriction may prove ineffective.
The agreement between the US and Belarus was concluded on September 11 after the release of 52 political prisoners who were detained in Minsk. The day after the announcement of the decision, the US Department of Commerce sent a letter to the CEO of «Belavia», Igor Cherginets, outlining the conditions for restoring access to spare parts for its fleet of 16 aircraft.
«This authorization does not allow flights to Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Russia, Syria, the temporarily occupied Crimean region of Ukraine, or the so-called Donetsk People's Republic and Luhansk People's Republic of Ukraine», — states the document regarding the export of spare parts.
However, on September 15, «Belavia» announced a 50-percent discount on flights to St. Petersburg.
The head of the international program at the Kyiv School of Economics and a fellow at the Brussels think tank Bruegel, Elina Ribakova, considers the US ban a «formality», as Russia and Belarus have no borders and are part of a customs union.
The US decision also created a potential rift with the European Union. The divergence between European and American sanctions regarding «Belavia» raises questions about whether EU countries should prevent the transit of American spare parts through their territory to Belarus.
Photo: Andreas Arnold