MOSCOW, February 25. /TASS/. /TASS/. The European Union has extended by another year an arms embargo against Belarus and restrictions against four nationals of the republic.

"Today the Council decided to prolong the restrictive measures against Belarus for one year, until 28 February 2020", the Council of the European Union said in a statement on Monday. It said Brussels had extended an embargo on supplies of arms and special vehicles used by police as well as a travel ban against four Belarusian law enforcement officers.

The first visa sanctions against Belarus and its President Alexander Lukashenko were imposed by the EU back in 2002 over human rights violations. Since then, the package of sanctions has been repeatedly revised, and they were frozen on three occasions.

However, in February 2016, the EU partially lifted sanctions that had been in place for more than 13 years. Brussels decided against extending sanctions slapped on 170 Belarusian officials, including Lukashenko, and three companies, but the arms embargo as well as visa restrictions against four Belarusian individuals stayed in place for another 12 months.