MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 24th May, 2021) Russia has concerns over Belarusian opposition leader Svetlana Tikhanovskaya's latest call for protests in Belarus in August-September, and hopes the country's populace will not follow those trying to exploit the current situation for their own interests, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said.
"We are concerned about Tikhanovskaya's latest calls for mobilizing protests in August-September this year. We hope that the Belarusian people will show its inherent wisdom and will not take their cue from those who are trying to use the situation for their own vested interests," Lavrov told Russia's Argumenty i Fakty newspaper.
According to the minister, Russia will not leave Belarus in the lurch.
Belarus has been in a prolonged political crisis after the August 9 presidential election, won by Alexander Lukashenko for the sixth time. The opposition has not recognized the results, claiming that opposition candidate Tikhanovskaya was the real winner. The dispute resulted in mass protests across the country. Several Western countries, including the United States and the European Union, have slapped sanctions on Belarusian officials deemed responsible for alleged electoral fraud and protest suppression.
The situation in Belarus was exacerbated on Sunday by an incident with a Ryanair plane flying from Athens to Vilnius, which had to make an emergency landing in Minsk due to a bomb threat. The alert later turned out to be false. To escort the plane, Belarus deployed a fighter jet.
Among the passengers was Roman Protasevich, the founder of a Telegram channel that Minsk has designated as extremist. He was detained during the stopover at the Minsk airport and may face up to fifteen years in prison.
