Belarus complains about Belavia’s ‘stupid’ sanctions-related obligations
A US representative promised to lift sanctions against Belavia in September.
Aleksandr Lukashenko, the de facto dictator of Belarus, has complained that while the United States has promised to lift its sanctions against Belavia, the country’s flag carrier still has to follow some “stupid” obligations related to the economic restrictions.
During a meeting with local officials on October 14, 2025, Lukashenko vented about the relations between Belarus and the United States, saying that the country, known as the last dictatorship of Europe, has made progress with the US, according to the Belarusian Telegraph Agency (Беларускае Тэлеграфнае Агенцтва, BelTA).
However, Lukashenko, who stated that the resumption of normal relations between the two countries will also depend on whether Belarus’ interests are met, complained that despite the US’ promises, Belavia is still bogged down by sanctions.
According to the country’s leader, Belavia has still faced certain obstacles, with the airline’s executives complaining that the company has not been freed from “some stupid obligations.”
“We cannot always fly, repair, or buy everywhere. The Americans acknowledge this. They say: It will take some time to eliminate these ‘obstacles’."
The US Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons list (SDN) still has Belavia listed, meaning that the airline’s assets “are blocked and US persons are generally prohibited from dealing with them.”
Belarus and Belavia seemingly had made progress when, in early September, John Coale, a Representative of Donald Trump, the President of the US, as identified by BelTA, met with Lukashenko and other Belarusian officials.
During the meeting, Coale said that the US would “very much like to normalize our bilateral relations,” adding that the lifting of sanctions against Belavia was just the beginning of the normalization of said relations between the two countries.
“If we come up with the right decisions during our discussion, our meeting regarding the other [political prisoners], I think we will be able to achieve a lot on the way of normalization.”
Coale met with Lukashenko the same day that Belarus freed 52 political prisoners, who arrived at the Belarus-Lithuanian border to leave the country. At the time, Gitanas Nausėda, the President of Lithuania, thanked Trump, who “was involved in the release of the prisoners from the beginning till the end.”
Rytis Beresnevicius
Nevertheless, little has changed since then, with Belavia still being sanctioned by the US.
At the same time, the airline added three Airbus A330-200 aircraft. The trio, originally delivered to Emirates, was acquired via a Madagascar-based third-party entity called Magic Air.
Syria’s Fly Cham also got its hands on an A320 in August 2024 via Magic Air.
Belavia introduced them into service in June 2025, highlighting that it was a historic moment for the airline and Belarus, since the country, which gained its independence after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, had never had any domestically registered widebodies.
Flightradar24 records showed that Belavia has two actively flying A330-200s, registered as EW-587PD and EW-588PD, while the third, registered as EW-589PD, has been dormant at Minsk National Airport (MSQ) for more than a year.
EW-587PD, which began flying on October 11, has been exclusively deployed on flights between MSQ and Istanbul Airport (IST). EW-588PD has seen more of the world, including recent departures from MSQ to Benghazi Benina International Airport (BEN), Libya, Phu Quoc International Airport (PQC), Vietnam, and Sanya Phoenix International Airport (SYX), China.
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