Belarus Wants to Strengthen Relations with USA

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Earlier U.S. Congressman from the State of Illinois Michael Quigley came to the capital of the republic. The importance of additional efforts to strengthen trust in bilateral relations between Belarus and the United States stated the message of the Belarusian Foreign Ministry following the meeting of the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Belarus Andrei Dapkiunas and the U.S. Congressman from the State of Illinois Michael Quigley on Tuesday. “The interlocutors discussed regional security, possibilities of Belarusian-American cooperation in trade, economic and humanitarian spheres. The importance of additional efforts to strengthen trust in bilateral relations was stressed”, the statement reports. The U.S. Embassy in Belarus reported that U.S. congressional delegation led by Representative Mike Quigley is visiting Minsk on August 13-14, 2019 and this is Representative Quigley’s first time visiting Belarus. The delegation will meet with Belarusian government officials to discuss bilateral U.S.-Belarusian relations and underscore the United States’ commitment to supporting the sovereignty and independence of Belarus. In recent years, relations between Belarus and the West have improved amid the role of Minsk in resolving the conflict in eastern Ukraine. This led to some expansion of the staff of the U.S. Embassy in Minsk. In 2008, a diplomatic scandal erupted between Minsk and Washington, which was caused by the United States imposing sanctions on Belarus due to human rights violations, which led to the recall of ambassadors. In March 2019, Deputy Foreign Minister of the Republic Oleg Kravchenko said that Belarus and the United States could appoint ambassadors in a year or two, because of technical procedures. The United States suspended sanctions against a number of Belarusian enterprises, but restrictions are still in force to some representatives of the authorities of Belarus and Belvneshpromservice. Recently, several large American political figures visited Minsk at once, which were received by President Alexander Lukashenko. TASS