[ad_1]
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said Thursday that he had proof that the poisoning of Russian opponent Alexei Navalny was “Forged” by Westerners to dissuade Moscow from intervening in Belarus, stirred by popular protest.
The indictment comes after the German chancellor’s announcement on Wednesday that Navalny, hospitalized in Berlin in a coma after fainting on a plane in Siberia, was poisoned by a “Novichok-like” nerve agent.
Russian opponent Alexei Navalny was poisoned with Novichok, German government confirms
Westerners pressured Moscow to explain, but the Kremlin said it “saw no reason” to accuse the Russian state and asked not to draw “hasty conclusions” about the poisoning of his main political opponent.
On Thursday, upon receiving Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin in Minsk, Lukashenko assured that his information services “intercepted” a phone call between Warsaw and Berlin, which proves that the Alexei Navalny case is a “fake”.
“There was no poisoning by Navalny,” the Belarusian president told an impassive Mishustin. “They did that, and I quote, to dissuade Putin from sticking to Belarusian affairs“, He said.
Lukashenko also said that he will send the transcript of that call to Russian security services.
Alexander Lukashenko, 66, of whom 26 are in power in Belarus, faces an unprecedented protest movement against his re-election in the August 9 presidential elections, which the opposition denounces as “fraudulent”.
Refusing to dialogue with his critics, Lukashenko has the support of Russia, his main ally and economic partner. The Europeans reject the results of the presidential elections and are preparing sanctions against senior officials in Belarus.
Alexei Navalny’s “right hand man”, Leonid Volkov, considered Lukashenko’s accusations ridiculous, accusing the Russian prime minister of “being an accessory to the assassination attempt”.
Anyone who submits to participate in this circus will have to take responsibility, “he declared.
The Belarusian president highlighted, on the other hand, the “progress” in the relationship with Russia.
“I am very grateful to him for the intense negotiations that have been taking place between our governments in recent weeks, perhaps a month and a half or two,” Lukashenko said, addressing Mishustin, according to state agency Belta.
Mishustin said that progress was made in particular in the case of the implementation of the State Union between Russia and Belarus, a two-decade-long alliance that Lukasheko had opposed until now.
He added that the The future of the bloc will be based on the “independent positions” of its two members., but it will include “the corresponding economic measures” agreed between Moscow and Minsk.
The Russian government delegation includes Finance Minister Anton Siluanov, who will discuss the country’s debt to Moscow with its Belarusian counterpart, which amounts to $ 1 billion (845 million euros).
Mishustin’s visit to Minsk precedes Lukashenko’s visit to Moscow, which the Kremlin says will take place in the “next few weeks.”
Who is Alexei Navalny, the opponent Putin wants out of the way?
