European Union sanctions against Belarus are “unacceptable”, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday, February 29.

“At the very least, they (sanctions) are ineffective,” Putin said, the Interfax news agency reported. “The unfortunate cases of Libya and Iraq have shown that no matter what sanctions one puts into effect, they always move things toward military intervention. They (sanctions) are an element of pressure by force.”

As M&C reported citing DPA, the EU imposed travel bans on 21 Belarus officials and froze their assets because of their alleged involvement in “the repression of civil society and the democratic opposition.”

Putin was addressing a conference of Russian political scientists one day after Belarus recalled its ambassadors to the European Union and Poland, and EU member states said they would recall their ambassadors to Minsk.