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Belarus Opposition Leader Tsikhanouskaya Urges US to Impose Sanctions
Voice of America
Belarus opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya pushed Tuesday for the United States to apply pressure to the government of President Alexander Lukashenko, including through the use of sanctions. An honor to meet with you today, @Tsihanouskaya. The United States respects the courage and determination of the Belarusian opposition and stands with the people of Belarus. https://t.co/BcvnUIDyAV
“Sanctions is not silver bullet, but they can help to stop violence in Belarus and to make representatives of the regime to start dialogue with civil society,” Tsikhanouskaya told VOA. She spoke outside the White House after talks with U.S. national security adviser Jake Sullivan, one of a series of meetings this week with officials from the Biden administration and the U.S. Congress. “I asked the U.S. to be the guarantors of our independence, that they will stand for our independence if it is under the threat. Because our independence is the highest value for Belarusians,” Tsikhanouskaya told VOA.
Dana Shem Tov, sister of Israeli hostage Omer Shem Tov, reacts as she watches his televised release by Hamas militants at the family home in Tel Aviv on Feb. 22, 2025. A woman mourns at a memorial for deceased hostages Shiri Bibas, her two children, Ariel and Kfir, and Oded Lifshitz at “Hostages Square,” while Israelis gather while waiting for the release of six hostages in Gaza, in Tel Aviv, Israel, Feb. 22, 2025. Omer Wenkert, a hostage held in Gaza since Hamas’ deadly Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel, is escorted by Hamas militants as he is released in Nuseirat, Gaza Strip, on Feb. 22, 2025.
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A mahout sprays water over elephants during their daily bath in a river, at the Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage in Pinnawala on Feb. 16, 2025 as Sri Lanka's main elephant orphanage marked its 50th anniversary. Tourists take pictures as elephants return to the Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage after taking their daily bath in a river in Pinnawala, Sri Lanka, on Feb. 16, 2025. Elephants stroll across the Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage in Pinnawala, Sri Lanka, on Feb. 16, 2025.
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A poster shows pictures of the Bibas family, top row from second left: Yarden, Shiri, and their sons Ariel and Kfir, who were kidnapped on Oct. 7, 2023, in Jerusalem, Feb. 21, 2025. Words above read, '37 members of Kibbutz Nir Oz are still missing.' Palestinian Hamas militants and people gather at the site of the handing over of the bodies of four Israeli hostages in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip on Feb. 20, 2025.