The European Union (EU) is drawing up a list of up to 20 senior Belarus officials who will be subject to sanctions for election fraud and a crackdown on anti-government protesters. President Alexander Lukashenko was not on the list but at a news conference following a meeting of the bloc's foreign ministers some members said he could be added in the future.

Lukashenko, Belarus's president of 26 years, has faced weeks of protests since he was reelected to a sixth term on 9 August with 80 percent of the vote. The opposition says the poll was fraudulent and the EU, among others, does not recognize the results of the election and considers the actions of the authorities unacceptable.

In the first four days of demonstrations that followed, Belarus security forces detained almost 7,000 protesters and injured hundreds with rubber bullets, stun grenades and batons. 

"We have general agreement on how the list will be structured and who will be, more or less, on the list," Czechia's foreign minister, Tomas Petricek, told reporters. The EU's foreign policy commissioner, Josep Borrell, was quick to point out that finalizing the list and presenting it to the European Council for consideration will take at least another week.

Lukashenko has accused his opponents of waging a "hybrid war" against the country and that a "diplomatic onslaught" against his administration has already begun. The embattled president has taken aim at NATO, claiming it is trying to divide Belarus and install a new leader in Minsk. 

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has denied the claims.

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Some EU countries prefer a gradual approach that would ratchet up pressure by adding more names progressively if Lukashenko failed to enter into talks with the opposition.

The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) has offered to mediate between the two sides in Belarus, with chairman Edi Rama pledging not to "interfere in internal affairs," but at the same time stressing that human rights abuses must end.

Russian President Vladimir Putin warned on Thursday that he stands ready to send police to Belarus if protests there turn violent, but sees no such need yet. 

German Chancellor Angela Merkel stressed the importance of Belarus's sovereignty in a recent call with Putin. "I hope that such a unit won't be deployed," she told reporters in Berlin.

Merkel said she has also tried to call Lukashenko, but that he has refused to speak with her so far.

The EU has supported proposals from the OSCE to promote dialogue in Belarus, one of the organization's member nations. In a special meeting in Vienna on Friday, on the situation in Belarus, Rama, who is the prime minister of Albania, laid out the case for the organization to assist in facilitating talks between Lukashenko and the opposition.

"For the country to move forward safely and as securely as possible will require mutual understanding and cooperation inside Belarus," Rama said. "And our role should be to help bring that about."