EU faces summit impasse on Belarus sanctions as Cyprus stands firm

Cyprus will stand firm at a summit of European Union leaders over the bloc's proposed sanctions on Belarus on Thursday, insisting that they can only be imposed if sanctions are also slapped on its neighbor, Turkey, a Cypriot diplomat said.

"To release the Belarus file we have to have an agreement on our proposals as well," the diplomat said, adding that Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades met Charles Michel, who will chair the two-day summit, on Wednesday to lay out Nicosia's position. "I imagine there will be a long discussion in the European Council. I'm not excluding that something might come out of it but, as of now, I wouldn't put money on having a happy outcome."

The EU vowed a month ago to impose sanctions on Belarus for alleged election fraud and human rights abuses, but the consensus-driven union has been prevented from fulfilling that promise by Cyprus, one...