French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian says the sanctions against the government of President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko will continue as long as it does not respect democracy and the will of the people, Reuters reports.

"Since August 2020, we have seen arbitrary arrests, the muzzling of associations, intimidation and imprisonment of the opposition and serious repression following an irregular presidential election," Le Drian said. "The events of Sunday are just another escalation in the strategy of blind repression led by the regime of Mr. Lukashenko," Le Drian added.