The West wants to use sanctions to bring Belarus to an economic crisis, but it is failing to do so, Belarusian Foreign Minister Sergey Aleinik has said in an interview with Sputnik.
"Of course, they [Western countries] want to use sanctions tools to slow down our economic development to bring us to an economic crisis. But we have grown stronger, we have become stronger. We have also grown stronger in our union [the Union State of Belarus and Russia], we have become stronger in other integration associations," Aleinik has said.
When asked whether the West was succeeding in fulfilling its intentions, the foreign minister responded by saying "not yet."
Aleinik added that Belarus will respond to the imposition of duties on imports of Belarusian agricultural products by the West.
Belarus has already made decisions on the embargo on a number of Western food and industrial products, he said, adding that this list is constantly reviewed and updated.
"I think that these decisions that have been imposed on [Belarusian] agricultural products will not remain unanswered," Aleinik said, adding that "today, Western partners have crossed this line."
In addition, the minister said that United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres is unequivocal about the illegality of sanctions against Minsk, but the UN cannot influence those who impose them.
"Of course, we are working with the UN, we have direct communication with the UN secretary general. The president of our country, Alexander Grigorievich Lukashenko, maintains correspondence with the secretary general. We have more than once raised these issues both at the level of the head of state and in personal contacts with the UN secretary general. I can say that the secretary general himself is absolutely unequivocal in his assessment of the illegality and counterproductive nature of sanctions, especially with regard to food products and potash and other types of fertilizers," the foreign minister said.
He added that Guterres "is well aware of the fact that these restrictions worsen the food security situation in the world and lead to further starvation in many parts of our planet."
Aleinik regretted that the UN "at the moment is unable to exert the necessary influence on the initiators of not just illegal, but inhumane ... sanctions imposed by Western countries on these vital groups of goods."