MOSCOW, December 4. /TASS/. Moscow firmly denounces the new sanctions imposed by the United States, the European Union, the United Kingdom and Canada on Belarus on December 2, and believes that those restrictions are illegitimate, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said in a statement posted on the Russian Foreign Ministry’s website on Saturday.

"We strongly condemn the new restrictive measures against Belarus, which were synchronously approved on December 2 by the United States, the European Union, the United Kingdom, and Canada. These sanctions are illegitimate, like any other restrictions imposed in circumvention of the United Nations Security Council. They are inhumane due to their negative impact on the lives of ordinary citizens of Belarus," the statement said.

Zakharova added that the West’s sanctions against Belarus have "a clear political connotation and are another example of interference in the internal affairs of a sovereign state."

"Their authors do not conceal that they intentionally deliver blows to the backbone of the Belarusian economy," the diplomat said. "They obviously aim at its collapse and at reducing the Belarusians’ living standards, thus attempting to set preconditions for another ‘color revolution’."

Payback for migrants

Zakharova pointed out that the option for sanctions was "extremely cynical."

"The Western countries are trying to use it in order to punish Belarus for the migrant crisis, which was caused by their own policy of ‘democracy export’ to the Middle East and North Africa," she explained. ‘That neocolonial policy destabilized and shattered the sovereignty, statehood, civilizational foundations and socio-economic patterns of regional nations, and resulted in a mass exodus of migrants and mounting cross-border threats."

According to the Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, the hypocrisy of the sanctions is becoming more and more evident against the backdrop of continuing gross violations of human rights and refugee rights by Western countries.

"Poland and Lithuania perfidiously refuse to comply with international obligations by denying entry to asylum seekers. The incidents of brutal treatment towards migrants by Polish and Lithuanian border guards and service members have been documented by relevant bodies of the United Nations, the Council of Europe and the European Border and Coast Guard Agency Frontex," the diplomat said.

She pointed out that even in these conditions, the Belarusian counterparts, on the contrary, "in spite of illegal sanctions and sweeping accusations, show a humane attitude to the refugees on their territory."

"We expect that international agencies will take the necessary measures to exert their influence on Warsaw and Vilnius to make them stop mistreating migrants," Zakharova stressed.

Solutions

The Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson recalled that the history of previous migration crises proves that their solutions "can be found only through close cooperation between the countries of origin, transit and destination of migrants."

"We call on the Western states to abandon double standards and the policy of illegitimate sanctions, but to demonstrate a civilized approach and proceed with the practical settlement of the migrant crisis in cooperation with the authorities of the Republic of Belarus," the diplomat said.

The European Union enforced the fifth package of anti-Belarusian sanctions on December 2. The sanctions cover 17 individuals and 11 organizations. The US Department of the Treasury also imposed restrictions on Belarus’ public debt securities and banned operations with the country’s new promissory notes with a maturity of more than 90 days issued after December 2. Apart from that, 20 individuals, 12 legal entities and three aircraft were backlisted in connection with the migration crisis and in the light of allegations about the clampdown on civil freedoms. The United Kingdom and Canada also announced extra sanctions against Belarus.

Meanwhile, Belarusian Foreign Minister Vladimir Makei said at a meeting of the OSCE top diplomats that his country was being punished with sanctions because it had highlighted "the dark side of European democracy.".