UNITED NATIONS (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 02nd June, 2021) The UN Security Council will not be able to adopt a joint statement on the situation around the forced landing of the Ryanair plane in Minsk, Belarus, the President of the UN Security Council for June and Permanent Representative of Estonia, Sven Jurgenson, said in a press briefing on Tuesday.
"Looking at the composition of the Security Council, it's absolutely impossible to have any product or any outcome in the council," Jurgenson said.
The diplomat added his country intends to continue raising the issue at the UN Security Council, including through a possible Arria-Formula informal meeting and a discussion on it under the "Any Other business" agenda.
On May 23, a flight by the Irish airline Ryanair from Athens to Vilnius was forced to land in Minsk over a bomb threat which later turned out to have been false. Among the passengers was Roman Protasevich, one of the founders of the Telegram channel Nexta, which was active during last year's post-election protests. The journalist was detained during the stopover.
The incident provoked an outcry from Western politicians and officials. Later, the EU suspended the flights of Belarusian airplanes and recommended European carriers to avoid flights over Belarus. The West has also been pushing for new sanctions against Belarus. A response to the sanctions was among the key topics discussed by Lukashenko and Russian President Vladimir Putin at their recent meeting in Sochi.
