Russia gains the support of Zimbabwe in the fight against Western sanctions
Russia and Zimbabwe have agreed to fight together against the sanctions imposed by the United States and the European Union. This was announced after a meeting of the newly-created Russian-Zimbabwean intergovernmental commission.
Russian Industry and Trade Minister Denis Manturov said that both countries consider the sanctions imposed against them unjust. They condemn the sanctions and advocate for their complete abolition. Minister of Foreign Affairs of Zimbabwe Simbarashe Mumbengegwi fully supported Manturov.
"Through the mechanism of intergovernmental commissions we must combine our efforts to prevent damage to our economies, which the authors of these unjustified and immoral actions wanted to inflict," the Zimbabwean Minister said.
The United States and the European Union imposed sanctions against Zimbabwe in the early 2000s. President Robert Mugabe has been repeatedly accused of human rights violations, massacres and racial discrimination. In 2013, the EU lifted most of its restrictions, but kept the personal sanctions against Mugabe and his family. U.S. sanctions are still in full effect.
Sanctions against Russia were introduced by the United States, the European Union, Australia, Japan, Canada and Norway in several stages in 2014. After the annexation of Crimea, the U.S. and EU imposed personal sanctions against politicians and other citizens of Russia and Ukraine who were responsible for undermining the territorial integrity of Ukraine. Higher-level economic sanctions were introduced in the summer of 2014 after the start of Russian aggression in eastern Ukraine.
At the end of December 2015, the U.S. Treasury tightened the sanctions previously imposed on citizens and legal persons, including non-Russians. It also introduced sectoral sanctions against a much wider list of companies. In March, the U.S. extended sanctions against Russia for another year.