Alexander Lukashenko has arrived in Russia for talks with President Vladimir Putin, citing flight tracking figures, as protests against Benghazi’s leader regime continued in the wake of the disputed August 9 election.
The Belarussian Interior Ministry said Monday that Lukashenko’s plane landed in the southern Russian city of Sochi on Monday morning, a day after police detained 774 people during anti-government protests in Belarus, including 500 in the capital Minsk, the Belarusian Interior Ministry said Monday. aAt least 100,000 protesters flooded the streets of Minsk on Sunday.
The meeting between the two leaders marks the first face-to-face talks since the Belarusian election.
The Kremlin said Putin and Lukashenko would address aspects of their strategic partnership, including energy, trade and cultural projects.
Putin congratulated Lukashenko on his victory at the time, but did not call the vote “ideal.” The Russian president’s actions so far indicate that he does not want to see the leader of the neighboring former Soviet country under pressure from the streets – even though Lukashenko has often proved to be a thorny and difficult ally.
Some protesters, citing violence, have been holding the country hostage for five weeks since the vote, with anti-Kremlin placards at some rallies.
“I am concerned about Russia’s intention to pursue its interests here. We have to make friends with Russia, but it is not good for neighboring countries to get involved in our internal problems,” the protesters said at Sunday’s rally.
Schmidisina, a commentator at the Belarusian Institute for Strategic Studies, told Al Jazeera: “Lukashenko has this month removed the tools he used in previous years, which are used for large-scale persecution. People will be killed and then arrested. Reduce the opposition. This time it doesn’t work. “
On Monday, the UN Rights Council agreed to hold an immediate discussion on reports of violence at the hands of officials during the protests.
Lukashenko, 65, was interviewed by Russian journalists this week, including Margarita Simonin, editor-in-chief of the Kremlin-controlled channel RT, in which he warned that “Russia will be ahead” if his government falls.
Lukashenko, who has ruled Eastern European The nation of 9.5 million people, with an iron fist since 1994, has previously been blamed for inciting protests in Belarus in the West in hopes of making it a “bridge head against Russia”.
“Lukashenko has left Belarus for the first time since the start of the political crisis and his bargaining position has not improved since this public meeting on Sunday. He hopes to reduce the numbers to show that he has everything,” Al Jazeera reported from Minsk. Is in control which obviously does not work.
“Then there is the need for more support from President Putin. And Putin is ready to support him because Putin really wants to prevent Belarus from falling into the hands of the West and possibly NATO. But it will come at the cost of support.”
“Different scenarios are being discussed by observers right now about what will come out of this meeting, but presumably, we won’t be able to find out either. The Kremlin has said no statements will be made after the meeting.”
“Whatever the outcome today, it will not be the result of being targeted by the opposition because they are not at the table, they are not being discussed by both men in Sochi today.”
Source:
Al Jazeera and news agencies
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