Western sanctions block $16-$18 billion worth of Belarusian exports to EU, U.S. - PM

FILE PHOTO: Belarusian Prime Minister Roman Golovchenko attends a meeting with Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin in Moscow, Russia March 14, 2022. Sputnik/Alexander Astafyev/Pool via REUTERS

(Reuters) - Sanctions that have been imposed on Belarus have blocked $16-$18 billion worth of its annual exports to the West, the Belta news agency cited Belarusian Prime Minister Roman Golovchenko as saying late on Sunday.

Belarus and Russia were hit by sanctions after Moscow sent tens of thousands of troops into Ukraine on Feb. 24 from Russian and Belarusian territory in what it called a "special military operation" designed to demilitarise and "denazify" its neighbour.