Andrei Savinykh: Sanctions against Belarus are only discrediting the US

The spokesman for the Foreign Ministry claims that by imposing economic sanctions on Belarus Washington violates given commitments and, accordingly, undermines the reputation of the United States.

In an interview broadcast given by Andrei Savinykh in “Kontury” news show on Sunday Andrei Savinykh accused the United States in violating the commitments imposed to them by the Budapest Memorandum, reports BelaPAN.

Let us recall that the so-called Budapest Memorandum on Security Assurances was signed on December 5, 1994 in connection with the accession of Belarus to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons. According to Andrei Savinykh, "the United States voluntarily assumed a legally binding commitment to refrain from taking measures of economic coercion against Belarus.” Nevertheless, the Foreign Ministry’s spokesman states that the United States violated its commitment by failing to abide by the legally binding agreement.

He believes that the Belarusan-US dialogue is rather smooth “in the areas where we stay away from political clichés.” Andrei Savinykh cited the example of joint control over the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons. “We are cooperating in a rather constructive way with the Americans in monitoring the movement of nuclear materials across Belarus’ border,” he said. “They see the role of Belarus in this regard. We have a serious transit potential. This cooperation is in the interests of both our country and the United States and the entire world. We easily find common ground in this regard. I think these principles should be implemented in other areas, too.”

Despite the US sanctions against Belarus, bilateral trade in 2012 is estimated to have totaled about $700 million, noted Andrei Savinykh. Thus, Belarus imports sophisticated technical equipment for the modernization of its companies from the United States. "We import much more than we export to the US market," he said. "Our exports are partially restricted by the sanctions, but we have what to offer. The export of information services rapidly rises with a 60-plus percent increase a year. We could also achieve more serious results in other areas."