MINSK, 30 September (BelTA) - The CIS countries were open to extensive cooperation with the West, but it abused this trust, Chairman of the CIS Executive Committee - CIS Executive Secretary Sergei Lebedev told reporters on 30 September, BelTA has learned.
“Sanctions are very unpleasant campaigns taken by the so-called collective West. It is a shame that they not only announce their own sanctions but encourage other states to follow them. This, of course, complicates our lives and slows the development of our economies. In the early 2000s and in the 1990s the CIS countries were open to extensive cooperation with the West; we trusted the West. But, unfortunately, the West abused that trust. And now, when we have established close cooperation with the West, they have suddenly interrupted it. We have found ourselves in a difficult situation,” said Sergei Lebedev.
“Within the framework of the CIS economic structures, we are actively working to minimize the negative effects of these sanctions and to develop joint measures to counter them. We are succeeding in this. This mostly happens within the framework of our councils on economic cooperation, industrial, technological and other councils. This is very close interaction. We are countering sanctions,” added Sergei Lebedev.
A regular meeting of the CIS Plenipotentiaries Council took place at the CIS Executive Committee in Minsk on 30 September.
