Russia condemns illegal sanctions

in its fight to have the embargo lifted.
Speaking after meeting Acting President Joice Mujuru at her Munhumutapa offices yesterday, Russia’s Ambassador to Zimbabwe, Andrey Kushakov, said Zimbabwe’s economy could perform better if the sanctions were removed.
“

I reiterated to her (Acting President Mujuru) that we do not support any economic sanctions on the country. It is a matter of our principle and it never changed and it will never change. It is important to the people of Zimbabwe if these sanctions are removed,” he said. Russia, alongside China vetoed proposals by the UN Security Council meeting in 2008 to impose sweeping sanctions on Zimbabwe. Ambassador Kushakov said

Russian companies were willing to invest in the country as a way of enhancing bilateral relations.
“I highlighted the interest of our companies to be here and perform on Zimbabwe’s economic market. We want to enhance our bilateral relations especially on the economic side,” he said. Commenting on the progress made on the Global Political Agreement, Ambassador Kushakov said: “We are monitoring very far political developments and it is our hope that all the efforts to realise the unsettled questions will be successful.”

Acting President Mujuru also met South Korea Ambassador to Harare, Lew Kwang Chul. Speaking after the meeting, Ambassador Lew said his country would enhance cooperation with Zimbabwe by contributing economic assistance.

“We had very good discussions on the economic and cooperation side. We also talked about exchanges in social, political and other areas especially relations in women and youths affairs,” he said. He said his country appreciated political reforms that had taken place since the formation of the inclusive Government. He expressed hope that the western countries would remove the illegal sanctions.
“We are not part of the group that imposed sanctions but we hope your country will be out of the sanctions soon,” he said. The Koreans have provided assistance to Zimbabwe in various fields that include humanitarian aid.