Biden Orders U.S. to Develop ‘Options’ for Belarus Response
- He condemns diversion of jetliner and arrest of journalist
- National Security Adviser Sullivan speaks to opposition leader
Joe Biden
Photographer: Oliver Contreras/Sipa/Bloomberg
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President Joe Biden said he applauded European Union efforts to impose economic sanctions against Belarus over the forced landing of a Ryanair Holdings Plc jetliner and the arrest of a dissident journalist, and had ordered his team to “develop appropriate options” to hold those responsible accountable.
The “removal and arrest of Raman Pratasevich, a Belarusian journalist traveling abroad, are a direct affront to international norms,” Biden said in a statement Monday night, adding that the U.S. condemned the act “in the strongest possible terms.”