Lithuania, Poland, Latvia offer to mediate in Belarus crisis

"If our initiative is met in a negative way, of course, the other means remain on the table - and that is sanctions, either at the European level or at the national level," Nauseda told reporters in Vilnius.

Lithuania, Poland and Latvia are ready to mediate between the Belarusian government and the opposition after Sunday's presidential election prompted bloody street protests, Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda said on Wednesday.

First, Nauseda said, Belarusian authorities must stop violence against protesters, release detained demonstrators and form a national council with members of civil society that would seek to find a way out of the crisis. "If our initiative is met in a negative way, of course, the other means remain on the table - and that is sanctions, either at the European level or at the national level," Nauseda told reporters in Vilnius.