MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 11th November, 2021) Belarusian authorities will not reconsider their stance on former presidential hopefuls Viktar Babaryka and Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, despite EU pressure, Foreign Minister Vladimir Makei told Sputnik in an interview.
"I want to say right away that no external attempts to put pressure on Belarus will lead to any positive results or help achieve goals set by the European Union," the minister said, when asked whether an expansion of Western sanctions could force the government to change its stance on possible release of persons whom human rights defenders deem political prisoners.
"No sanctions, no external pressure will change the approach of the Belarusian leadership. And I would like to reiterate, there cannot be be any dialogue with the opponents of the authorities who participated in these events and fled somewhere abroad, there has not been and could not be any dialogue, no matter how some of our European partners try to organize it now," Makei added.
