Lukashenko: the real motive of the West’s sanctions is unconcealed lobbying of their interests

The West is lobbying for its economic interests by imposing sanctions against the sovereign states under the banner of fighting for human rights, said President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko

Lukashenko is attending a summit of the Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO) in Dushanbe on Thursday.

“The collective West is exerting pressure on sovereign states through restrictions, asymmetric actions and hybrid influence. All this happens under the slogan of fighting for someone’s rights. But we understand very well that the real motive of such measures is outright lobbying of their economic, and not only economic, interests”, – Lukashenko was quoted as saying by the press service of the official website of the president.

At that, as the Belarusian leader pointed out, completely far-fetched pretexts are used for imposing sanctions. In particular, he mentioned the emergency landing of the Ryanair airline in Minsk, after which the European countries imposed a ban on the use of airspace of Belarus and closed their skies to the Belarusian national carrier Belavia.