Home › Opinion › Sanctions, air patrols and a deployment: 23 December 2020
Sanctions, air patrols and a deployment: 23 December 2020
Summary
A retrospective on three separate developments reported around 23 December 2020, from Minsk sanctions to Russian and Chinese military activity.
What did three separate pieces of news around 23 December 2020 say about pressure and force in Ukraine's wider neighbourhood? Each was distinct, but all involved states using sanctions or military power to shape outcomes.
On 23 December 2020, the Trump administration imposed additional sanctions on Belarusian officials and four offices. The stated reason was human rights abuses during protests against President Alexander Lukashenko.
Russia's military reach
A day earlier, on 22 December 2020, South Korea said it had scrambled fighter jets after four Chinese and fifteen Russian military aircraft entered its air defence identification zone. South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said China had notified it in advance of a joint China–Russia military exercise.
On 21 December 2020, Rwanda deployed what it called a protection force to the Central African Republic after its peacekeepers were attacked by rebel forces advancing on Bangui. The Rwandan and Central African Republic governments accused former President François Bozizé of backing the rebels and plotting a coup, which he denied. Russia also sent troops and heavy weaponry to support the government.
What links them
For readers in Kyiv and neighbouring capitals, the common thread was Russia's visible role: in air operations alongside China near South Korea, and in military support for a government in Central Africa. Meanwhile, in the case of Belarus, Washington chose financial and political penalties aimed at named officials and offices rather than any military step.
