Russia strongly condemns Western sanctions against Minsk and calls for their abandonment, spokesman for the Foreign Ministry Maria Zakharova voiced Moscow’s position.
“We strongly condemn the new restrictive measures against Belarus, which were simultaneously adopted on December 2 by the United States, the European Union, Great Britain and Canada. These sanctions are illegitimate, like any restrictions imposed bypassing the UN Security Council. They are inhuman in nature due to their negative impact on the life of ordinary Belarusian citizens”, says Zakharova’s commentary posted on the website of the Russian Foreign Ministry.
The politician stressed that the decision made by the West “is characterized by extreme cynicism.” And with its help, Western countries are trying to punish Belarus for the migration crisis, which was caused by their own policy of “exporting democracy” to the countries of the Middle East and North Africa.
The Foreign Ministry spokesman said Moscow is calling on the West to abandon sanctions and dialogue with Minsk to resolve the crisis with migrants.
“We call on the Western states to abandon“ double standards ”and the policy of illegitimate sanctions pressure, to show a civilized approach and to begin a practical settlement of the migration crisis in cooperation with the authorities of the Republic of Belarus.”
According to the diplomat, Moscow hopes that international organizations will force Poland and Lithuania to stop abusing migrants. The hypocrisy of these sanctions is even more obvious against the background of continuing gross violations of human and refugee rights in the Western countries themselves, Zakharova notes.
“Poland and Lithuania treacherously refuse to fulfill international obligations to admit asylum seekers to their territories. The facts of the brutal treatment of migrants by Polish and Lithuanian border guards and military personnel have been documented by the specialized structures of the UN, the Council of Europe and the European Union Border and Coast Guard Agency “Frontex”.
The Russian Foreign Ministry expects that international structures will take the necessary measures to influence Warsaw and Vilnius, which will force them to stop bullying migrants.