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Kremlin regards as unacceptable sanctions rhetoric on international scene

TASS reported on Thursday that the European Union had made a decision to suspend its sanctions against Belarus for four months

MOSCOW, October 30. /TASS/. The Kremlin has taken note of information that the European Union has suspended its sanctions against Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko and generally regards sanctions rhetoric as unacceptable, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Friday.

"The Kremlin takes note of information [on the suspension of EU sanctions against Lukashenko]. We have always said at very different levels and in general that the sanctions rhetoric is unacceptable," the Kremlin spokesman said.

"In this case, the talk is not only about Belarus and Lukashenko but in general about the unacceptable nature of the use of this methodology in international relations," Peskov told journalists.

TASS reported on Thursday that the European Union had made a decision to suspend its sanctions against Belarus for four months. The official permission will come into force from October 31.

The EU restrictive measures will be suspended relative to 170 Belarusian citizens, including Belarus’ President Lukashenko, as well as three Belarusian organizations.

The EU sanctions against Belarus comprise a blacklist of about 170 persons, including Belarusian President Lukashenko, who are barred from entering the territory of the European Union and whose assets at European banks should be frozen.

The EU sanctions against Belarus also include an arms embargo and a ban on the delivery of police equipment and double-use technology to the ex-Soviet republic to exclude their use for "internal repressions."

The EU extends the sanctions against Belarus annually for another 12 months. The current annual term expires on October 31.

Last time, the EU suspended its sanctions against Belarus in September 2008 to prompt Minsk to refuse to recognize the independence of South Ossetia and Abkhazia after Georgia’s attack on the breakaway republics in August 2008. After that, the sanctions were reimposed.