Americans should leave Belarus ‘immediately,’ US embassy warns

The United States is urging Americans in Belarus to leave the country “immediately,” according to The Washington Post, saying the risk of injury and detention from the war in Ukraine is growing.

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The U.S. Embassy in Minsk issued the advisory on Monday, telling Americans they should avoid traveling to Belarus because of the country’s “continued facilitation of Russia’s unprovoked attack on Ukraine, the buildup of Russian military forces in Belarus, the arbitrary enforcement of local laws” and the risk of detention and civil unrest.

Any Americans in Belarus should leave immediately, the advisory said, noting that the best way to leave is through “the remaining border crossings” with Lithuania or Latvia, or by plane.

U.S. citizens are unable to cross into Poland by land from Belarus, and the message noted that on Friday that Lithuania closed two border crossings — Sumsko and Tvereciaus — with Belarus.

The embassy notice stressed that Americans’ travel plans should “not rely on U.S. government assistance,” and said the embassy had a “limited ability to assist” Americans there.

Belarus is bordered on the west and northwest by Poland, Lithuania and Latvia — all NATO members. However, on the south and to the east, the country borders Ukraine and Russia, and it has been aligned with Russia during the nearly year-and-a-half war.