NEW YORK (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 26th July, 2021) Former Belarusian opposition presidential candidate Svetlana Tikhanovskaya met with her supporters in New York on Sunday, as part of her ongoing visit to the United States, and said that she expected Washington to heed her advice and introduce sectoral sanctions against Minsk.
Tikhanovskaya started her visit to the US on July 18. She has already met with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Under Secretary Victoria Nuland, State Department Counselor Derek Chollet, and National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan.
"I really hope that the United States will react to our meeting in the near future and that sectoral sanctions will be introduced. I can't name a date, but I really hope for it," Tikhanovskaya said during a meeting with the Belarusian diaspora in New York on Sunday.
Asked about anti-Russia sanctions, she said that she was not fighting against Russia and could not speak about countries other than Belarus. Nonetheless, the opposition leader said that sanctions against a country that would want to "take advantage of the weakness of the [Minsk] regime" should be considered if there will be a threat to Belarusian sovereignty. Asked about the possibility of Russian military being used against Belarusian opposition, Tikhanovskaya said that she sees no such threat.
This week, Tikhanovskaya is expected to meet with UN Security Council representatives. She told her supporters in New York that she wanted to ask them to "have Belarus on the agenda." After her stay in New York, Tikhanovskaya is expected to have meeting in San Francisco from July 28-29, and in Los Angeles from July 30-31.
During her stay in Washington, Tikhanovskaya said on Twitter that she had asked Blinken to appeal to Russia to play a constructive role in her country. During a meeting with the Belarusian diaspora in Washington DC,Tikhanovskaya said that she was going to ask for action, particularly sanctions, and not just words of support from the US.
Tikhanovskaya told The National Interest magazine this month that Belarus needs "a good manager" who can rebuild the country, but she herself is "not ready to participate in new elections," although she could serve instead as "a moral authority." The opposition leader said she was not looking for enemies and that she wanted "dialogue" with Russia.
Belarus has been in a prolonged political crisis since incumbent President Alexander Lukashenko secured his sixth term in office in the August 2020 election. The opposition has not recognized the results, claiming that Svetlana Tikhanovskaya was the real winner. The dispute resulted in mass protests across the country, which generally declined by February.
Minsk has opened criminal cases against several opposition leaders and other persons on charges linked to anti-government rallies.
