WASHINGTON, July 23. /TASS/. Representative of the Belarusian opposition Svetlana Tikhanovskaya at meetings with US authorities, particularly Secretary of State Antony blinken and US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, requested that the country impose sectoral sanctions against Belarus, Axios reported on Thursday.

According to the news website, she was asking representatives of the US administration to introduce sanctions against state-controlled industrial spheres, including steelmaking, fuel and woodworking industries, to keep up international pressure on Minsk. Axios notes that American officials expressed their concerns about the potential effect of these sanctions on ordinary Belarusians.

Tikhanovskaya said in an interview with the new portal that the US has a moral obligation to support Belarusians who are at the forefront of the global fight between autocracy and democracy.

Presidential elections were held in Belarus on August 9. Incumbent President Alexander Lukashenko won by a landslide, garnering 80.10% of the vote. His closest rival in the race, Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, came in second, with 10.12% of the ballot. However, she refused to recognize the election’s outcome, and left Belarus. Tikhanovskaya’s supporters set up a Coordination Council that set a task of power transition by means of new elections. The Council’s activities were recognized as illegal in Belarus.