Belarus seeks full lifting of U.S. sanctions

The Belarusian Foreign Ministry said Belarus is ready to continue dialogue with the U.S. to fully normalize relations and lift the sanctions.

Belarus intends to continue the dialogue with the United States to achieve full repealing of the sanction issued by the U.S. government on June 16, 2006, the spokesman for Belarusian Foreign Ministry Dmitry Mironchik said on Monday, commenting on the extension of the sanction for another year.

The ministry said that "it is obvious that the sanction decision made in 2006 by the George W. Bush administration, which has been prolonged by one year, are based on the initially wrong assumption that Belarus may be a source of threat to U.S. security."

"In reality, throughout all past years, our country made a real and broadly recognized contribution to regional and international security," the statement said.

"We hope that the tenth year of the sanctions will be the last one," the ministry said.

On June 10, U.S. President Barack Obama extended the sanctions against Belarusian officials for another year. In his message to the congress, Obama stated that the actions of certain representatives of the Belarusian government "represent an extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of the U.S." Endit