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However, the Kremlin was quick to dismiss these allegations.
“They are [valdžios oponentai] us with hungry fingers of a certain dishonesty, and how do they behave themselves? Clearly, there are puppeteers behind them. They are present on both sides. They live in Poland and are forced to leave Russia, the BelTA state news agency quoted Lukashenko as saying.
The Belarusian leader added that he would discuss the issue with Russian President Vladimir Putin in the near future.
Photo by Scanpix / ITAR-TASS / Vladimir Putin
“We will discuss this with President Putin in the near future, but the situation is very complicated. Deceptive modern technologies are used; interference from the outside in our elections, internal affairs are taking place,” Lukashenko said during a meeting.
“It just came to our attention then. Don’t take a nuclear warhead and yell or talk about a hypersonic weapon for which we will reward you. We are a simple, peaceful Central European country focused on a quiet life. And we simply cannot threaten anyone with that. “he added.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, meanwhile, said on Thursday that Russia had never intervened in the Belarus electoral process and had no intention of doing so.
“One can answer unequivocally that the Russian Federation has never interfered, does not intervene, and does not intend to interfere with anyone’s electoral processes, especially those taking place in our ally Belarus,” said Peskov.
Authoritarian leader Lukashenko is currently seeking a sixth term as head of state in the August 9 elections.
In recent weeks, many of his critics and rivals have been arrested, and popular opposition figures in society have faced great obstacles in standing in the next election, observers say.
Viktor Babaryka, considered Lukashenko’s main rival in the elections, was arrested this month on suspicion of financial crime, and the next day the president announced that his government had foiled a plan by foreign forces to incite a popular uprising in Belarus.
Minsk authorities claim that V. Babaryka has paid with the “puppeteers” in Moscow.
Pure propaganda
Lukashenko on Thursday accused Russia and Poland of spreading false news online to discredit the country’s government ahead of the elections.
At the time, Alexei Yanukevych, leader of the opposition Belarusian People’s Front (BNF), said the accusations of foreign interference were “pure propaganda to discredit the opposition” and in the Kremlin style.
“If Russia is really trying to intervene, why not fight against Russia, but against Belarusian society?” He told AFP.
As the vote approaches, opposition in Belarus has intensified and Lukashenko remains faithful to the Soviet campaign style.
The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) has not recognized any election in Belarus since 1995 as free and fair.
Nikolai Kozlov, leader of the opposition United Citizens Party, said Russia had previously intervened in the Belarusian elections, but “always on Lukashenko’s side.”
“It is difficult to say what is Russia’s position now,” he told AFP. “It is clear that people are ready to vote for anything other than Lukashenko.”
Lukashenko visited Moscow this week and participated in a grand parade on Red Square to mark the Soviet Union’s victory over Nazi Germany in the 75th victory.
Russia and Belarus have long and close ties of trade and military cooperation, but the Kremlin has recently called for further deepening of integration, and Lukashenko has opposed proposals to unite the two countries.
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