Belarus' Lukashenko claims economic sanctions could trigger 'another world war'

Alexander Lukashenko.
(Image credit: SIARHEI LESKIEC/AFP via Getty Images)

European Union leaders gathered in Lisbon on Thursday to discuss further economic sanctions on Belarus following its widely-condemned forced landing of a Ryanair passenger plane, The Times reported Friday. The country's authoritarian leaders were looking to arrest a 26-year-old political dissident on board.

The latest EU sanctions are expected to target Belarus' "most important industries and its financial sector," per the Times. Said Lithuanian Prime Minister Ingrida Simonyte: "This is an unpredictable regime from which you can expect anything, and you have to be prepared for anything."

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Brigid Kennedy

Brigid Kennedy worked at The Week from 2021 to 2023 as a staff writer, junior editor and then story editor, with an interest in U.S. politics, the economy and the music industry.