MOSCOW, May 31. /TASS/. The United States’ and the European Union’s statements on possible sanctions against Belarus expose the degree of the West’s degradation in the sphere of international law, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov said on Monday.
"It is a violation of the fundamental principles of international law: respect to the sovereign equality of states, and the principle of non-interference into domestic affairs," he said. "Obviously, these principles of international law are of no importance for Americans and for the European Union, which tends to be very resentful when it comes to response steps. It demonstrates how deeply our Western colleagues have degraded in their attitude to international relations."
"I don’t think it will entail any, even psychological, impacts on markets, let alone long-term effects. It is resentful that Americans, and not only them, use any pretext to build up pressure on sovereign nations, ignoring the fact that they may indulge in such things themselves," Ryabkov added.
White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said on May 28 that the United States, along with the European Union and other allies, were looking at imposing sanctions on Belarusian officials. She said the US Department of the Treasury was working on an executive order expanding US authority to impose unilateral measures against Minsk.
The US said that from June 3 it would re-impose full blocking sanctions against nine Belarusian state-owned that had previously been granted relief.