MINSK (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 22nd June, 2021) The new Western sanctions on Minsk verge upon the declaration of an economic war, the Belarusian Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday, warning about sensitive retaliatory measures.
Recently, the European Union approved the expansion of the list of sanctions against Belarus, adding 86 persons to it. EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell is not ruling out the introduction of another sanctions package. In addition, the United States expanded its sanctions on Minsk, while Canada slapped sanctions on 17 Belarusian individuals and five companies, and the United Kingdom announced sanctions targeting 11 individuals and two state enterprises.
"We have repeatedly stated that sanctions affect citizens' rights, this is counterproductive and vicious. Their 'targeted' or 'smart' nature is out of question a priori. We see that the EU understands it as well but it continues the deliberate destructive actions against the population, allegedly in order to 'financially scorch the regime' ... In fact, it verges upon the declaration of an economic war," the Belarusian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
Retaliatory measures, which Minsk is forced to implement, "can affect the areas of our cooperation and, ultimately. the interests of Western citizens and companies," the ministry warned.
