Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 19 December 2024 to Question 19314 on Belarus: Sanctions, what assessment he has made of the potential implications for his policies of sanction avoidance by Belarus in liquefied natural gas (a) imports and (b) exports.

The Government is committed to working with partners to hold the Lukashenko regime to account for its lack of respect for human rights and support for Putin's illegal war. That includes ensuring our sanctions are as effective as possible. That is why we have legislated to strengthen our sanctions enforcement powers, with the formal launch of the new Office of Trade Sanctions Implementation, and launched a cross-Government review of sanctions enforcement to ensure we have the right powers, approach and resourcing. We are also coordinating closely with G7 partners on our efforts to tackle circumvention risks across priority countries, ranging from technical support to diplomatic engagement at all levels.