Kremlin welcomes lifting of Belarus sanctions

The fact that the European Union has lifted the sanctions imposed on Alyaksandr Lukashenka and other Belarusian officials demonstrates that the policy of sanctions is defective and senseless, TASS quotes Putin’s press sectary Dmitry Peskov as saying.

"Naturally, we welcome the decision,” Peskov said.

The European Union lifted the majority of the sanctions imposed on Belarusian officials on Monday. The sanctions were imposed more than 13 years ago. 170 officials including Alyaksandr Lukashenka and three companies have been removed from the EU black list. The arms trade embargo and the visa restrictions applying to four Belarusian security officials are still in force. These sanctions have been prolonged for another 12 months.