Trump extends U.S. sanctions on Belarus

President Donald Trump signed a notice on May 21 continuing the U.S. national emergency on Belarus for another year, preserving the legal basis for U.S. sanctions tied to the country. The notice says the emergency will remain in effect beyond June 16, 2026, under the National Emergencies Act. A public inspection version of the document appeared on the Federal Register site ahead of formal publication scheduled for May 26. The move keeps in place a sanctions framework first declared in 2006 and later expanded in 2021. ### What exactly did Trump extend? The May 21 notice says Trump is continuing for one year the national emergency declared in Executive Order 13405, the order first issued on June 16, 2006. The document says the emergency must remain in effect beyond June 16, 2026, because the underlying threat has not ended. The Federal Register text cites section 202(d) of the National Emergencies Act, which requires presidents to renew such emergencies annually if they are to remain in force. The notice also says it will be transmitted to Congress and published in the Federal Register. ### Which Belarus sanctions authorities are covered? (federalregister.gov) Executive Order 13405, issued in 2006, declared a national emergency over the actions and policies of certain members of the Belarus government and others accused of undermining democratic processes, committing human rights abuses tied to political repression, and engaging in public corruption. A 2025 Federal Register notice renewing the same emergency repeats that basis. (federalregister.gov) Executive Order 14038, signed on August 9, 2021, expanded the scope of that emergency. The 2025 notice said the expansion covered what it called the Belarusian regime’s harmful activities and abuses, including conduct following the August 9, 2020, presidential election and actions affecting civil society and international civil air travel. The new 2026 notice says the emergency declared in 13405, “which was expanded in scope in Executive Order 14038,” must continue. (federalregister.gov) ### Why did the administration say the emergency still had to stay in place? The 2026 notice says the actions and policies of certain members of the Belarus government and other persons, along with the Belarusian regime’s “harmful activities and long-standing abuses,” continue to pose “an unusual and extraordinary threat” to U.S. national security and foreign policy. That is the legal standard the White House used to justify the renewal. (federalregister.gov) The language closely tracks last year’s renewal. In the 2025 notice, the White House said those same actions and policies continued to threaten U.S. national security and foreign policy, and for that reason the emergency had to remain in effect beyond June 16, 2025. ### Does this create new sanctions or keep old ones alive? (federalregister.gov) OFAC’s Belarus sanctions page says the program remains in place and that certain activity may be permitted only if licensed by the Treasury Department. The continuation notice does not announce a new package of designations; it preserves the national emergency underpinning the existing program. On March 26, 2026, OFAC separately announced Belarus-related removals and issued General License 14 involving Belinvestbank and other entities. (federalregister.gov) That action shows the program is still being actively administered even as the broader emergency authority is renewed. ### Why were people looking for a Treasury release? The social-media posts circulating on May 22 pointed to the extension before a Treasury press release was apparent. (ofac.treasury.gov) The formal source for the action is the presidential notice on the Federal Register public inspection page, not an OFAC enforcement bulletin. OFAC’s recent-actions page did not show a May 22 Belarus press release in the search results reviewed. (ofac.treasury.gov) May 26, 2026, is the next dated milestone. The Belarus notice is scheduled to appear in official form in the Federal Register that day, while OFAC’s Belarus sanctions page remains the standing reference for licenses, restrictions and future designations. (federalregister.gov)