Europe’s narrowing menu on policy towards Belarus Since even before 2020, EU sanctions against Belarus have failed to achieve their core goals, neither crippling the economy nor forcing a change in Alyaksandr Lukashenka’s behaviour. Rather than remaining static, the EU’s sanctions regime evolved significantly, following the rhythm of oscillating Minsk-Brussels relations and complementing a broader “Belarus strategy”. However, if strategically redeployed and reinforced by Washington, this leverage could underpin a recalibrated Belarus strategy capable of producing a genuine triple-win. From then on, a new trend in EU sanctions policy emerged – one in which Belarus was reclassified as part of an adversarial bloc and a Russian outpost. Together, these two key dimensions constitute the backbone of the EU’s “Belarus sanctions framework”.