BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

04/04/2008

Belarus leader hopes for better ties with U.S.

By Andrei Makhovsky

MINSK, April 4 (Reuters) - Belarussian President Alexander Lukashenko said on Friday he hoped ties with the United States, beset by a row over sanctions and human rights, could soon be improved.

Lukashenko, accused in the West of crushing fundamental rights, was speaking to Vietnamese media ahead of a visit in the next few days.

"I believe relations with the United States will soon be normalised and chances are good for normalised relations with the European Union," BELTA news agency quoted him as saying.

Ex-Soviet Belarus asked Washington this week for a new staffing cut of more than 50 percent at its Minsk embassy, following the departure of its ambassador at the urging of the authorities. The embassy is to provide an answer by next Monday.

The embassy said staff reductions had obliged it for a second time to suspend the issuing of visas for Belarussians.

"As you are aware, only last week, our embassy reduced the number of American staff by half," it said in a statement. "We consider these demands by the Belarussian government to be unwarranted and unjustified."

The U.S. ambassador left Belarus last month and the reduction is the second demanded by Minsk, which wants sanctions against Belarus dropped -- mainly measures against national oil products firm Belneftekhim.

Washington last year froze the U.S. accounts of Belneftekhim, which earns about a third of foreign currency revenues in Belarus, and barred Americans from dealings with it.

Source:

http://uk.reuters.com/article/oilRpt/idUKL046028220080404

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