Russia strongly approves of EU decision to lift sanctions against Belarus, Putin’s spokesman says

Russia strongly approves of the European Union’s decision not to extend the application of its sanctions against Belarus, the Russian president’s spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, told reporters on Tuesday.

“Naturally, our reaction to this is very positive,” Mr. Peskov said.

“This step simply shows one more time the absolute senselessness of sanctions, the pointlessness of continuing a sanction dialogue and the defectiveness of sanction thinking in general,” he said.

On February 15, the Foreign Affairs Council of the European Union decided not to extend the bloc’s restrictive measures against 170 Belarusian citizens, including Alyaksandr Lukashenka, and three companies.

However, entry bans and asset freezes were left in force for four persons involved in unresolved disappearances in Belarus in 1999 and 2000, namely, former Interior Minister Uladzimir Navumaw, former Prosecutor General Viktar Sheyman, former Interior Minister Yury Sivakow, and Dzmitry Pawlichenka, a former commander of an Interior Troops unit.

In addition, the Foreign Affairs Council prolonged the embargo on arms sales for one year.