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The United States Department of Transportation is eventually banned sale of tickets for flights to Belarus and vice versa. The ban is linked to an incident with a Ryanair plane, which was forced to land in Minsk on May 23, according to a document from the Ministry of Transport.
It is clarified that the sale of all passenger tickets from the United States to Belarus, including those with a transfer, is now prohibited. Exceptions are possible only in the interest of US national security.
The ban was announced on July 2, so far no objections have been raised by the White House administration, so the measure enters into force.
We remind you that a Ryanair plane made an emergency landing at Minsk Airport on May 23 due to a mining report that was not later confirmed. Roman Protasevich, the founder of the Nexta Telegram channel, which is recognized as an extremist in Belarus, was on board the plane. Protasevich and his girlfriend were excluded from the flight and detained, he faces up to 15 years in prison.
Following the incident, the EU summit banned Belarusian airlines from flying to EU airports and flying over European Union territory. More than 20 countries have closed their airspace to Belarusian airlines.