MINSK (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 02nd August, 2020) Former Belarusian presidential candidate Valery Tsepkalo has arrived in the Ukrainian capital city of Kiev for a short-term visit, the politician's press secretary Alexei Urban told Sputnik on Sunday.
"Valery has been in Kiev since yesterday, I assume he will stay there for about two days," the press secretary said.
Urban stressed that no political meetings are planned in Kiev but that Tsepkalo will meet with the media.
Having visited Moscow earlier, Tsepkalo came to Kiev as part of the plan to visit all neighboring countries before the presidential elections in Belarus, scheduled for August 9, Urban said.
The press secretary emphasized that at the same time, negotiations with politicians or officials of these countries are not planned, the goal is to meet with Belarusian diasporas abroad and the media.
On July 24, a source surrounded by Tsepkalo announced his urgent departure from Belarus to Moscow for fear of being detained. According to the source, the politician left with his children, as he received information about his possible detention after law enforcement agencies carried out a search in his campaign headquarters. His wife is still in Belarus.
Earlier, the Belarusian Central Election Commission did not register Tsepkalo as a presidential candidate, and the politician challenged the decision in the Supreme Court, which ruled in favor of the commission.
The upcoming presidential election in Belarus has proven the most contentious in the country's modern history, with several opposition candidates garnering mass followings, which result in detentions and arrests.
