{"id":204284,"date":"2026-09-17T21:53:30","date_gmt":"2026-09-17T18:53:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/204284\/"},"modified":"2026-09-17T21:53:32","modified_gmt":"2026-09-17T18:53:32","slug":"latvian-premier-tells-us-envoy-that-sanctions-against-belarus-should-be-toughened","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/204284\/","title":{"rendered":"Latvian premier tells US envoy that sanctions against Belarus should be toughened"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"block-image block-image-normal\">\n\n  <img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1128\" height=\"753\" src=\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/riga-latvia-flag-1128-pixabay.jpg\" class=\"attachment-full size-full\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/riga-latvia-flag-1128-pixabay.jpg 1128w, https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/riga-latvia-flag-1128-pixabay-354x236.jpg 354w, https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/riga-latvia-flag-1128-pixabay-734x490.jpg 734w, https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/riga-latvia-flag-1128-pixabay-178x118.jpg 178w, https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/riga-latvia-flag-1128-pixabay-768x513.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1128px) 100vw, 1128px\" \/>\n  <figcaption>\n      <div class=\"block-image__descr\">\n\n        Riga\n    <\/div>\n  \n       <div class=\"block-image__author\">\n                <span>(pixabay.com)<\/span>\n    <\/div>\n     <\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>September 17, <em>Pozirk<\/em>.<\/strong> Riga considers it necessary to maintain political and sanctions pressure on Minsk and supports expanding and toughening EU sanctions, Prime Minister Andris Kulbergs said in Riga on Thursday while meeting with US Special Envoy for Belarus John Coale, according to Latvia\u2019s Cabinet of Ministers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Kulbergs reportedly welcomed the release of 25 Belarusian political prisoners and praised the United States for negotiating their release. At the same time, he warned that Alaksandar \u0141uka\u0161enka\u2019s regime is not rolling back politically motivated persecution, support of Russia\u2019s war against Ukraine and the instrumentalization of irregular migration. He noted that Latvia is now the prime target for undocumented third-country foreigners seeking to enter the EU.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Cole also met with Latvia\u2019s Foreign Minister Baiba Bra\u017ee and State Border Guard Chief Guntis Puj\u0101ts to &#8220;learn more about the security challenges facing Latvia&#8217;s eastern border and discuss opportunities for US-Latvia cooperation,&#8221; according to the US Embassy in Riga.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>On September 16, Coale had meetings in Vilnius with Lithuanian President Gitanas Naus\u0117da and Prime Minister Mindaugas Sinkevi\u010dius after the envoy\u2019s return from Minsk followed by the release of 25 Belarusian political prisoners and their deportation to Lithuania.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"insert-block\">\n\n    <div class=\"insert-block__img\">\n        <img decoding=\"async\" width=\"354\" height=\"236\" src=\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/koul_litva_site_pravitelstva-354x236.jpg\" class=\"attachment-medium size-medium\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/koul_litva_site_pravitelstva-354x236.jpg 354w, https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/koul_litva_site_pravitelstva-734x490.jpg 734w, https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/koul_litva_site_pravitelstva-178x118.jpg 178w, https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/koul_litva_site_pravitelstva-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/koul_litva_site_pravitelstva.jpg 1128w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 354px) 100vw, 354px\" \/>                        <label class=\"insert-block__tag--mobile\"> Politics<\/label>\n\n                <\/div>\n    <div class=\"insert-block__text\">\n                    <label class=\"insert-block__tag\">Politics<\/label>\n                <h3 class=\"insert-block__title\">Lithuania\u2019s PM thanks US for diplomatic engagement with Belarus<\/h3>\n        <div class=\"insert-block__descr\">September 17, Pozirk. Washington&#039;s active diplomatic involvement with Minsk helps reduce hybrid threats and tensions in the region, Lithuanian Prime Minister Mindaugas Sinkevi\u010dius told John Coale, US special envoy for Belarus, at their meeting in Vilnius yesterday. &quot;In addition to &#8230;<\/div>\n        <a class=\"insert-block__btn-block\" href=\"\/en\/news\/204219\">\n            <button class=\"btn\">\n                <div class='btn__text'>Read the article<\/div>\n            <\/button>\n        <\/a>\n    <\/div>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>September 17, Pozirk. Riga considers it necessary to maintain political and sanctions pressure on Minsk and supports expanding and toughening EU sanctions, Prime Minister Andris Kulbergs said in Riga on Thursday while meeting with US Special Envoy for Belarus John Coale, according to Latvia\u2019s Cabinet of Ministers. Kulbergs reportedly welcomed the release of 25 Belarusian [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":73,"featured_media":80678,"template":"","rubric":[16],"class_list":["post-204284","articles","type-articles","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","rubric-politics"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Latvian premier tells US envoy that sanctions against Belarus should be toughened | Pozirk<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"September 17, Pozirk. Riga considers it necessary to maintain political and sanctions pressure on Minsk and supports expanding and toughening EU\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/204284\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Latvian premier tells US envoy that sanctions against Belarus should be toughened | Pozirk\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"September 17, Pozirk. Riga considers it necessary to maintain political and sanctions pressure on Minsk and supports expanding and toughening EU\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/204284\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Pozirk\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/pozirkonline\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-09-17T18:53:32+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/riga-latvia-flag-1128-pixabay.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1128\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"753\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Pozirk_online\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"NewsArticle\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/204284\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/204284\/\"},\"headline\":\"Latvian premier tells US envoy that sanctions against Belarus should be toughened\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-09-17T18:53:30+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-09-17T18:53:32+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/204284\/\"},\"wordCount\":210,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/204284\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/riga-latvia-flag-1128-pixabay.jpg\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/204284\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/204284\/\",\"name\":\"Latvian premier tells US envoy that sanctions against Belarus should be toughened | Pozirk\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/204284\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/204284\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/riga-latvia-flag-1128-pixabay.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-09-17T18:53:30+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-09-17T18:53:32+00:00\",\"description\":\"September 17, Pozirk. 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