Minsk expects EU to eventually realize that dialogue has no alternatives — MFA

The Belarusian Foreign Ministry believes that the EU sanctions policy has no prospects, and hopes that all the EU members will eventually realize that there is no alternative to the resumption of dialogue with Minsk for the sake of stability and security, the ministry said in a statement, made available to TASS, Report informs.

"Once again we point out that any sanctions measures have proved unavailing. We expect that the EU countries will henceforth evaluate their partners’ information about the threats allegedly emanating from Belarus in a sober and well-balanced manner, and will come to the understanding that there is no alternative to the return to dialogue with Minsk in order to ensure stability and security in the whole region," the statement said.

Earlier, Latvia banned imports of certain food items from Belarus, and Lithuania followed suit imposing a year-long ban on imports of agricultural products and fodder from Belarus. As a tit-for-tat measure, the Belarusian government updated the list of goods from Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, the Czech Republic and Estonia that are banned from import and sale on the territory of the country. Moreover, this decision of the Belarusian government is a retaliatory measure to the EU Council’s draft regulation that imposes higher tariffs on Belarusian agricultural imports.