U.S. expects to identify Belarus sanctions targets in a few days

"I expect in just a few short days we will be in a position to be able to definitively identify the additional list of sanctions that we will be imposing in parallel with those that are being enacted by the European Union," Biegun told reporters, though he said neither the United States nor the European Union would necessarily wait for the other to impose the penalties. Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko denies rigging the country's Aug. 9 election, which official results said he won by a landslide, and has cracked down hard on protesters demanding his resignation.

The United States expects in a few days to identify Belarusians it will hit with sanctions for their involvement in election fraud or violence against protesters, U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Stephen Biegun said on Friday. "I expect in just a few short days we will be in a position to be able to definitively identify the additional list of sanctions that we will be imposing in parallel with those that are being enacted by the European Union," Biegun told reporters, though he said neither the United States nor the European Union would necessarily wait for the other to impose the penalties.

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko denies rigging the country's Aug. 9 election, which official results said he won by a landslide and has cracked down hard on protesters demanding his resignation. Biegun said Lukashenko is increasingly reliant on Moscow to maintain his rule and said that in propping him up, Moscow may turn Belarusian public opinion against Russia.

"The ruler of Belarus is using violence to maintain his grip on power and relying increasingly upon support from Moscow to prop him up," Biegun said. "If the Kremlin continues down this path, it risks turning the Belarusian people, who have no grievance with Russia, against Moscow." Lukashenko is scheduled to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin and Biegun said he hoped the Russian government would voice concern about the brutal crackdown on protests in Belarus, adding: "ultimately we hope the message from Moscow to Minsk is that the ruler needs to give way to the will of his people."