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Belarus has a “very long way to go” for the improvement of its relations with the United States, Philip Gordon, the US assistant secretary of state for European and Eurasian affairs, said at a hearing held by the US Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe on October 28.
Mr. Gordon said that the US administration was “open to dialogue and engagement” with Minsk. Washington has “noticed” a number of steps taken by the Belarusian authorities to improve their relations with the West, he said, describing the steps as “modest.”
The US administration expects Belarus to take more steps toward democratization, the official said. Apart from this, he noted, the United States wants to restore its embassy in Belarus to its previous staffing level.
In the spring of 2008, the United States had to reduce its diplomatic staff in Minsk by order of the Belarusian government, which retaliated for Washington’s sanctions against Belarus’ state petrochemical conglomerate Belnaftakhim.
Minsk recalled its ambassador from Washington "for consultations" in early March and emphatically recommended that US Ambassador Karen Stewart leave Belarus "for the same purpose." The ambassador went away after the Belarusian government had threatened to expel her. In addition, Minsk cut its diplomatic staff in the United States and urged Washington to reduce its staff in Belarus to the same number. As a result, the US diplomatic mission in Minsk decreased from 32 to five members.
Alyaksandr Lukashenka revealed later that Minsk had told Washington to cut the staff of the US embassy in Belarus because opposition forces had been financed through the embassy. //BelaPAN