Belarus urges EU to lift remaining restrictive measures

MINSK, May 22 (Xinhua) -- Belarus urges the European Union to lift the remaining restrictive measures, Belarusian Foreign Minister Vladimir Makei said here on Tuesday.

At the meeting with EU diplomats, the minister said that the EU in February extended its restrictive measures against Belarus, which "had lost a rational explanation."

The diplomat stressed that the positive cooperation between the EU and Belarus over the past few years has brought far more positive results than the previous two decades of sanctions.

As a step towards removing the remaining restrictive measures, he noted the exclusion of sports shooting weapons from the arms embargo.

The Minister also welcomed the EU's intention to expand relations with Belarus and put them on a structured basis. Enditem