A group of seven Democratic members of the U.S. House of Representatives has called on Mastercard to suspend its business operations in Belarus because of the company”™s support of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
The New York Post reported that the representatives complained that Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko allowed his country to be used as a staging ground for the invasion and is providing hospital treatment to Russian forces injured in Ukraine.
“Belarus is as much at fault as Russia in this war,” the representatives said in a letter sent to the leadership of both Purchase-headquartered Mastercard and its corporate rival Visa.
The lawmakers praised Mastercard and Visa for suspending their Russian-based operations, but called on the companies to follow the lead of American Express by extending their suspension to Belarus.
“The private sector can also play a significant role in addressing bad actors”™ role in this unjustified war,” the lawmakers added.
