MINSK, 31 May (BelTA) - Moscow will defend Belarus and help it if the EU imposes economic sanctions against Minsk, Dmitry Birichevsky, Director of the Economic Cooperation Department at the Russian Foreign Ministry, told RIA Novosti.
"I think that we will defend our partner Belarus. We will help our allies. What the West is doing against Belarus causes absolutely negative emotions. Because first of all you need to investigate what happened, and then think about how to react to it, and not make hasty statements," said Dmitry Birichevsky.
Commenting on the possibility of a mirror response in the case of EU sanctions against Minsk affecting the transit of Russian gas, Dmitry Birichevsky said: "We cannot react to the measures that have been imposed on another country. We need to discuss it with partners and see what we can do."
Earlier, in an interview to Agence France-Presse EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell that the EU foreign ministers will explore the export of potassium and transit of Russian gas through Belarus as they discuss economic sectoral sanctions against Minsk.
