Stanislau Shushkevich: US didn't undertake obligations not to impose sanctions on Lukashenka

The first head of independent Belarus refuted the statement by the Belarusian FMA spokesman.

According to Stanislau Shushkevich, who signed the memorandum with the United states in Budapest in 1994, Washington didn't undertake obligations not to impose sanctions against the Belarusian authorities, Kommersant reports.

Andrei Savinykh, a spokesman for the Belarusian MFA, referred to the memorandum yesterday. The official said to journalists that under the 1994 Budapest Memorandum on Security Assurances adopted in connection with Belarus’ accession to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, the United States voluntarily assumed certain commitments, in particular not to apply measures of economic coercion against the Belarusian authorities.

Washington began to impose economic sanctions on the Lukashenka regime in March 2008. The US Department of the Treasury froze accounts of Belneftekhim company in American banks. The US Department of State said the restrictions would be lifted after the release of political prisoners. The US then joined the visa restrictions introduced by the EU against the Belarusian officials involved in repression against opposition activists.