Contents tagged with Belarus

  • Lukashenko: Belarus successfully tested new missile

    The President of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko, has called the 16th of June a “happy day in terms of security and defense” due to the successful launch of a Belarusian-developed missile.

    “During the first launch, the rockets just missed the target by one and a half meters. It hit just 10 meters away from the target on the second launch. It’s perfect,” Lukashenko said.

    He added that the missile system was developed in the country over a period of two years. He asked that the Prime Minister of …

  • Minsk upset over extension of sanctions against Belarus

    The sanctions allegedly "do not take into account changes in Belarusian- American relations"

    Belarus does not agree with the extension of U.S. sanctions and promises to establish relations with America in order to have them lifted, according to a statement by the Belarusian Foreign Ministry.

    "The decision adopted on the 10th of June duplicates the previous acts and does not take into account the current changes in Belarusian-American relations," the press secretary of the Foreign Ministry …

  • US extends sanctions against Belarus for another year

    Sanctions imposed by the United States against some Belarusian government representatives and other officials have been extended for another year.

    According to a statement published on the website of the White House on Friday, June 10, the sanctions will be extended due to "the actions and policies of certain members of the Government of Belarus and other persons to undermine Belarus's democratic processes or institutions, manifested in the fundamentally undemocratic March 2006 elections, to …

  • Belarusian Ambassador in Kiev: There will be no aggression against Ukraine from Belarus

    Valentin Velichko, the Ambassador of Belarus to Ukraine, stated that there will never be aggression against Ukraine from Belarus. According to him, the President of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko, has repeatedly stated this, Radio Svoboda reports.

    “An unambiguous direction has been given to the heads of our state: there will never be aggression from our country. Moreover, any third party will not be allowed to commit aggression against Ukraine. Belarus has repeatedly shown support for Ukraine’s …

  • Belarus wants to resume importing Ukrainian power

    Ukraine’s Minister of Energy and Coal Industry, Ihor Nasalik, has discussed the possibility of exporting electricity to Belarus once again with the Deputy Energy Minister of Belarus, Leonid Shenets. This was reported by the press service of the Ukrainian Ministry of Energy and Coal Industry.

    The export of electricity from Ukraine to Belarus was halted in November 2014.

    Belarus has proposed the restoration of Ukrainian-Belarusian working group on energy. This would be within the framework of …

  • Belarus refuses to sell globes with Russian Crimea

    In the city of Mogilev in Belarus, mapmakers withdrew the sale of globes that indicated that Crimea was a part of the Russian Federation. Local authorities advised against selling maps and globes showing a Crimean territorial status that differs from the one generally accepted by the international community.

    Initially, the appearance in stores of globes showing Crimea as a part of the Russian Federation drew the attention of the representative of the Belarusian opposition, Social-Democratic …

  • Belarus is unlikely to receive gas discount from Russia

    The price of Russian gas supplied to Belarus to likely to remain at the current level of $142 per thousand cubic meters, Radio Svoboda reported.

    This was announced by Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak.

    According to him, the current contract for 2015-2016 “has not been cancelled”. Russia believes that Belarus owes $125 million to Gazprom. Minsk does not recognize the debt, saying that, according to their own calculations based on the fall of the ruble against the dollar, their price …

  • Russia and Belarus agree on need for joint response to missile defense system in Europe

    Russia and Belarus have agreed on a joint response to the deployment of NATO missile defense systems near their borders. This was said by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Belarus, Vladimir Makei. DW reports that he made these statements after meeting with the head of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Sergey Lavrov.

    “Because we are a union state[with Russia], we have agreed that we will jointly develop adequate response measures,” Makei said.

    Moscow and Minsk are planning to work closely …

  • Belarus does not recognize debt to Gazprom

    Interfax reported that the Head of the Ministry of Energy of Belarus, Vladimir Potupchik, told journalists in Mogilev before the Foreign Affairs Council meeting of the Union State that Belarus does not recognize its debt to Russia for natural gas supplied to the Republic.

    “There is no debt. Belarus pays in accordance with the intergovernmental agreements. There in court we will deal with this issue,” Potupchik said.

    He noted that Russia and Belarus interpret gas agreements differently. “ …

  • EU condemns Belarus after prisoner execution

    The European Union has condemned Belarus after receiving news that the former Soviet republic executed another prisoner, Radio Free Europe reported.

    Belarus is the only country in Europe that still practices capital punishment.

    In a statement issued on May 7th, the EU stated that the execution of Syarhey Iwanow was "particularly disturbing" because his complaint was pending with the UN Human Rights Committee.

    “Despite the many calls made by the European Union, another execution has been …