WASHINGTON, May 9. /TASS/. U.S. and Belarus will discuss the reciprocal return of ambassadors to Minsk and Washington but not in the coming days, Belarusian Deputy Foreign Minister Oleg Kravchenko said on Tuesday as he took the floor at a conference of the Atlantic Council.
"No we haven't got as far as that," he said.
In June 2006, the U.S. introduced economic sanctions against two enteprises of the Belarusian state petrochemical corporation Belneftekhim over reports on alleged encroachments on human rights in Belarus. In 2008, the number of staff members at the U.S. embassy in Minsk was reduced to five from thirty-five at the insistence of the Belarusian side.
After that Belarus called off its ambassador in the U.S. for consultations, while the U.S. ambassador left Minsk, also at the insistance of the Belarusian authorities.
Belarusian authorities issued permission in 2014 to increase the staff of the U.S. embassy to six members.