US Department of State doesn’t see reasons for lifting sanctions against Lukashenka

No progress in democracy and human rights can be observed in Belarus.

US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Daniel Russell said in Minsk on November 17 that the aim of the US was improving bilateral relations with Belarus, but it was possible only after improvement of the situation with democracy and human rights in the country, BelaPAN news agency reports.

He noted he visited Belarus as part of his trip to the region. Russell had a meeting with Belarusian minister of foreign affairs Syarhei Martynau, opposition presidential aspirants and NGO representatives monitoring the presidential election campaign.

According to Russell, the full range of bilateral relations was discussed at the meeting with Martynau. The diplomat noted that chances of normalizing the bilateral relations remained limited. He said that financial and visa sanctions against Belarus were still in force, as Belarus had not made progress in democracy and human rights.

Russell emphasized the opinion of the US was that actions to lift the sanctions should be taken by Belarus. He said the US would welcome positive steps in this direction, the steps that would allow lifting the sanctions.

To BelaPAN’s question whether the US planned to suspend the sanctions as a good will gesture on the example of the EU, Russell said that both the US and the EU tried to coordinate their policies towards Belarus. The American diplomat noted that the content of the policy could be the same but implementation could differ.

Russell said the United States hadn’t seen any changes in the country that could lead to changing the US policy towards Belarus.