US Evaluating Ties With Belarus

The Bush administration is denying media reports that it is ordering Belarus to close its embassy in Washington as well as its consulate in New York, but is not ruling out such actions in the future. VOA's Michael Bowman has details from Washington.

The Bush administration has been a severe critic of the government of president Alexander Lukashenko, pressuring Belarus to release political prisoners or face possible sanctions. Washington has imposed sanctions on a state-controlled petroleum and chemical processing company over Belarus' treatment of critics and dissidents.

Belarus has accused the United States of meddling in its internal affairs.