West's Actions Against Belarus Will Not Affect Moscow's Stance Toward Minsk - Ambassador

Russia's stance towards Belarus will not be impacted by the "particularly opportunistic steps" taken by Western countries in levying sanctions against Minsk, Russia's ambassador to Belarus, Dmitry Mezentsev, said on Wednesday

MINSK (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 25th November, 2020) Russia's stance towards Belarus will not be impacted by the "particularly opportunistic steps" taken by Western countries in levying sanctions against Minsk, Russia's ambassador to Belarus, Dmitry Mezentsev, said on Wednesday.

The European Union on October 2 first imposed sanctions on 40 Belarusian officials linked to the August 9 presidential election that saw incumbent Alexander Lukashenko win a sixth term in office. The EU has refused to recognize the results of the election and expanded its list of sanctioned individuals to include Lukashenko on November 6.

"Russia's position toward its fraternal partner, Belarus, has not changed despite the particularly opportunistic steps taken by Minsk's Western partners. It remains unchanged," Mezentsev told reporters.

The ambassador underlined Russian President Vladimir Putin's commitment to maintaining strong bilateral relations with Minsk.

"To believe that someone implementing certain restrictions on Belarus, based in one Western capital or another, will be able to break our bilateral relations constitutes a misunderstanding of the depth and scale of our cooperation," Mezentstev said.

Commenting on a bill that proclaims the rejection of the August 9 presidential election, which was passed by the US House of Representatives this past week, Mezentsev said that the measure was an attempt to separate Belarus from Russia.

"The bill, which was passed by the House of Representatives on November 18, can only be interpreted as an attempt to separate Belarus from Russia, to attack the deep bilateral relations," the ambassador said, adding that the bill constituted a "violation of democratic traditions."

The US bill also prevents the recognition of Lukashenko as Belarus's president and reiterates Washington's refusal to recognize "any incorporation of Belarus into a Union State with Russia."

Lukashenko emerged victorious in the August 9 presidential election, winning more than 80 percent of the vote according to the country's Central Election Commission. The Belarusian opposition has rejected the results of the election and unsanctioned protests have been held regularly in Belarus each weekend.