MINSK, March 1 (Itar-Tass) — An adviser to the Belarussian president said the dialogue between Belarus and the European Union is possible if sanctions against Minsk are lifted.
"The European Union should give up the practice of imposing sanctions against Belarus, especially their toughening," presidential aide Valentin Rybakov told the reporters on Thursday.
"We offered the Polish and EU ambassadors to temporarily leave the country for consultations and bringing home Belarus' position to the EU leadership," Rybakov said in comments on Minsk's reaction to the toughening of European sanctions against Belarus.
He referred to the Belarussian leadership earlier statements on the possibility of proper response in the event tougher sanctions were exposed.
In the aide's opinion, the EU's reaction was not adequate, they "drove themselves into a ridiculous situation."
"We're waiting, we're hoping that the ambassadors who left the republic, will bring home the official Minsk's position to their leadership.
"At present, certain European figures state the possibility of further toughening of sanctions against Belarus /in late March./ In this case, we'll take adequate measures," Rybakov said answering an Itar-Tass question.
Meanwhile, Secretary of Russia's Security Council Nikolai Patrushev believes it is possible to settle the worsening Belarus-EU relations only by political and diplomatic methods.
"You might expect a positive outcome if talks are underway, if the parties reach compromises by political and diplomatic methods," Patrushev told reporters on Thursday.
"In this case, everything should come to norm precisely by this way," he underlined.
Patrushev noted that the leadership of EU countries are used to a quite high standard of living in the EU. "Against this background, they deem it possible to instruct other peoples and states about how they have to live. But the situation changes dynamically, and what is happening in the EU is not taking a turn for the better; negative changes are taking place, including in the economic area," he went on to say.
Each country has its own Constitution which has to be observed. "There are different political systems in Europe, there are monarchies, the countries led by presidents or those with the parliamentary form of rule, but nobody says they are not democratic. Why then, are they questioning the democracy of the country which has a Constitution, why do they think it is possible to introduce sanctions or restrictions? "Such decisions do not yield positive results," Patrushev said.