MINSK. Nov 8 (Interfax) - Belarus is interested in normalizing relations with the United States, head of the Belarusian Foreign Ministry department for foreign policy analysis Andrei Shuplyak said at the 13th Minsk forum on Friday.
"We are ready for a constructive dialogue with Washington," he said adding that unilateral sanctions are the main obstacle on the road to engagement.
In his opinion, cooperation between Belarus and the United States is promising in such spheres as power engineering, farming and health protection as well as resistance to illegal immigration, drug trafficking and human trafficking.
In turn U.S. charge d'affairs in Belarus Michael Scanlan in his speech confirmed that the United States is ready to cooperate with Belarus on the basis of principles of democratic society. We are waiting for improvements in the sphere of human rights and other important spheres and what we will do to our sanctions depends on that, he said.
He quoted Belarusian Foreign Minister Sergei Martynov as saying that Belarus does not intend to become part of Russia or the EU but will always be part of Europe. European Belarus should accept common principles and norms that exist in Europe, Scanlan said.