Belarus to cut diplomatic staff in Lithuania to minimum

MOSCOW - Belarus told Lithuania it will cut its diplomatic presence in its European Union neighbour to a minimum until the latter scraps "unfriendly" initiatives against Minsk, the Belarusian foreign ministry said on Tuesday.

Belarus has been at loggerheads with Lithuania and the EU as they imposed economic sanctions on Russia's ally, targeting its export industries and access to finance after Minsk forced a Ryanair flight to land and arrested a dissident blogger aboard.

Alexander Lukashenko, the president of Belarus, on Tuesday threatened to stop the transit of EU goods via his country to Russia and China in retaliation for EU sanctions.