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PRESS RELEASE
Washington,
D.C., March 25, 2008
Andrei
Popov, Press Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Belarus,
Responds to BelTA News Agency Question About the US Department of State
Spokesman’s Statement with Regard to Belarus
Question:
Where does
the Foreign Ministry stand on yesterday’s statement regarding Belarus made
by the press secretary of the US Department of State?
Answer:
We have to
make it clear that the official representative of the US State Department is
misleading the international and US public in the attempt to hold Belarus
responsible for the current situation in the Belarus-US relations. Such
attempts might be considered with good reason as a display of moral and
political weakness of the US stance towards Belarus. The “authorship” of the
situation goes all the way to the US. You must admit that the actual facts
are clear evidence of that: it was the US Administration that initiated the
economic sanctions against our country, that is, as a matter of fact,
economic blackmailing which is internationally outlawed. The US
Administration sought to inflict maximum damage on the Belarusian people and
state so as to subordinate our country to the US interests. As a result, the
Americans breached each and every international standard and principle. With
persistence, the US prefers to sidestep them which is why I would like, yet
another time, to mention just major things – the UN Charter, Helsinki Final
Act, Memorandum of 1994 on the security assurances for the Republic of
Belarus resulting from our country’s relinquishing of nuclear weapons,
numerous resolutions of the UN General Assembly including resolutions
62/183 and
62/162 that,
in particular, condemn in the strongest terms the use of unilateral
economic, political or any other type of measures to coerce another state in
order to obtain from it the subordination of the exercise of its sovereign
rights.
You must
admit that under those circumstances the Belarusian actions are totally
appropriate since they are solely reciprocal and in full accordance with the
Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations.
Therefore,
provided that the US side genuinely “regrets” the consequences and would
indeed like “a different relationship” with our country as has been put by
the State Department spokesman, then it should withdraw sanctions against
Belarus. What is key to handling this situation is the withdrawal of
sanctions.
Minsk,
March 25, 2008
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