U.S. sanctions against Belarusian regime continue and will effect until human rights are violated in Belarus. It was said by former United States Ambassador to Belarus Karen Stewart, who is now adviser to Deputy Secretary of U.S. Department of State, Michael Posner.
«Our demands are uchanged. We want to see progress in the of human rights and democracy in Belarus — it caused our sanctions. We didn’t chose such measures as the withdrawal of ambassadors for consultations or reduction of staff in the embassies. We are ready to engage in dialogue and return at any time. But if Belarus relates it with our sanctions, I want to remind you that sanctions related to human rights in the country «, — quotes the Belarusian service of Radio Liberty, words of Karen Stewart.
According to Karen Stewart, the current U.S. policy towards Belarus is continuous. «But we remain concerned about restriction of freedom of speech and press in the country, we are concerned about recent searches in the apartments of independent journalists,» — said former U.S. ambassador to Belarus.
Karen Stewart stressed that sanctions against Belarus will remain in force, because «the U.S. simply did not see any reason to revise or soften the sanctions. Our goal — to see free and fair elections in Belarus», — said ex-ambassador, adding that the U.S. still reacted to changes happened in the country.
«When Alexander Kozulin was released and two independent newspapers were allowed to return to in the official distribution network, the U.S. modified its sanctions, allowing the two enterprises, which are part of Belneftekhim, to conduct trading activities in the United States», — Karen Stewart recalled.
According to a former ambassador, it was a reasonable reaction to that moment. «Then U.S. Assistant Secretary for European Affairs, Philip Gordon came to Minsk to underline the fact that new U.S. administration is ready to resume the relationship, if reaction on the other side will be correspondent. In my opinion, we and Europeans want to respond to the positive steps from Minsk. But the truth is that in Belarus there is no progress «, — summarized Karen Stewart.
