Foreign ministry: new sanctions an expression of US “hypocrisy”

March 27, BPN. The expansion of US sanctions “did not come as a surprise” because that state “by inertia positions itself as the master of the world’s fate and continues to believe in its own exclusivity, infallibility, and impunity,” said Anatol Hłaz, a spokesperson for the Belarusian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

“The imposition of sanctions on successful civilian companies in Belarus is a concentrated expression of the US administration’s hypocrisy, whose members love to talk about ‘supporting’ the Belarusian people at every opportunity,” said Hłaz. “I do not think that thousands of ordinary toilers of our flagship factories dreamed of the foreign assistance and support in the form of absolutely illegal and unfounded sanctions.”

The foreign ministry says MAZ and BiełAZ teams have considerable experience in sustaining the sanctions pressure and “will successfully cope with any new challenges.”

“Real life shows us that any attempts to isolate and strangle our country economically are doomed to failure,” the ministry said.

Hłaz said that “no sanctions, restrictions, and threats will make us stray from our intended course and act contrary to our national interests.”

On March 24, the US Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) said new restrictive measures were imposed on Belarusian individuals and entities involved in domestic reprisals and Russian aggression against Ukraine.

The sanctions list includes Minsk Automobile Plant (MAZ), Belarusian Automobile Plant (BiełAZ), and their heads Valeryj Ivankovič and Siarhiej Nikifirovič.

On the same day, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced visa sanctions against 14 unnamed members of the Belarusian regime.