President Putin:
Belarus Under Unprecedented External Pressure
MOSCOW (Dispatches) -- Russian President Vladimir Putin said Tuesday that neighboring Belarus was under unprecedented external pressure, as the Kremlin’s ex-Soviet ally faces post-election riots stirred by the West.
Belarus is in a "difficult situation” and facing "unprecedented external pressure”, Putin said in televised remarks, after a presidential vote last month sparked ongoing protests against President Alexander Lukashenko.
Protesters have taken to the streets of Belarusian cities since Lukashenko won a sixth term with 80 percent of the vote in the August 9 election.
Putin has promised to provide the 66-year-old president with security assistance if the political crisis worsens and gave Belarus a loan of $1.5 billion.
Lukashenko has accused various Western countries and NATO of attempting to destabilize his country or support the protest movement.
Addressing a forum on the Belarusian and Russian regions, the Kremlin chief said that Moscow was ready to stand by Minsk, describing ties as "timeless and all-weather”.
Putin has long been pushing for even closer integration between the two countries, whose "union state” alliance guarantees close military and economic ties.
European leaders have refused to recognize Lukashenko’s re-election and have promised sanctions on Belarus.
French President Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday promised to allegedly help with mediation in the political crisis in Belarus.
Macron spoke during a visit to Lithuania after meeting with Belarusian opposition leader Svetlana Tikhanovskaya that was being seen as a major show of support for the activist.
Tikhanovskaya fled to Lithuania in the aftermath of the election. The European Union has refused to recognize the result of the presidential election and Macron on Sunday said that Lukashenko "has to go”.
Tuesday’s meeting with Macron in Vilnius was Tikhanovskaya’s most high-profile one so far.
Tikhanovskaya, a political novice whose blogger husband is in prison in Belarus accused of trying to overthrow the government, told AFP after the meeting that she had accepted an invitation to speak before the French parliament.
Tsikhanouskaya will also visit Berlin on Oct. 5-6, her spokeswoman told Reuters.
A meeting with Chancellor Angela Merkel in Berlin was being considered but had not been confirmed, the spokeswoman, Anna Krasulina, said on Tuesday.
Belarus is in a "difficult situation” and facing "unprecedented external pressure”, Putin said in televised remarks, after a presidential vote last month sparked ongoing protests against President Alexander Lukashenko.
Protesters have taken to the streets of Belarusian cities since Lukashenko won a sixth term with 80 percent of the vote in the August 9 election.
Putin has promised to provide the 66-year-old president with security assistance if the political crisis worsens and gave Belarus a loan of $1.5 billion.
Lukashenko has accused various Western countries and NATO of attempting to destabilize his country or support the protest movement.
Addressing a forum on the Belarusian and Russian regions, the Kremlin chief said that Moscow was ready to stand by Minsk, describing ties as "timeless and all-weather”.
Putin has long been pushing for even closer integration between the two countries, whose "union state” alliance guarantees close military and economic ties.
European leaders have refused to recognize Lukashenko’s re-election and have promised sanctions on Belarus.
French President Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday promised to allegedly help with mediation in the political crisis in Belarus.
Macron spoke during a visit to Lithuania after meeting with Belarusian opposition leader Svetlana Tikhanovskaya that was being seen as a major show of support for the activist.
Tikhanovskaya fled to Lithuania in the aftermath of the election. The European Union has refused to recognize the result of the presidential election and Macron on Sunday said that Lukashenko "has to go”.
Tuesday’s meeting with Macron in Vilnius was Tikhanovskaya’s most high-profile one so far.
Tikhanovskaya, a political novice whose blogger husband is in prison in Belarus accused of trying to overthrow the government, told AFP after the meeting that she had accepted an invitation to speak before the French parliament.
Tsikhanouskaya will also visit Berlin on Oct. 5-6, her spokeswoman told Reuters.
A meeting with Chancellor Angela Merkel in Berlin was being considered but had not been confirmed, the spokeswoman, Anna Krasulina, said on Tuesday.