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Vladimir Putin was interviewed on Russian state television
Russian President Vladimir Putin says he has formed a police reserve force to intervene in Belarus if necessary, but that point has not yet been reached.
Speaking on Russian state television, he said that Belarus’ President Alexander Lukashenko “asked me to set up a certain police reserve” and “I did that”.
“We have also agreed that it will not be used until the situation gets out of control,” he told Rossiya 1TV.
Mr Lukashenko’s controversial re-election on August 9 sparked widespread protests.
Mr Putin said Russia had an obligation to help Belarus with its security under the close alliance of the two countries, and he stressed the deep cultural, ethnic and linguistic ties between the two countries.
He said the new reserve force would not go to Belarus unless “extremist elements with political slogans such as cover cross a certain border and start armed robbery, set cars, houses, banks on fire, try to seize government buildings. and so on”.
What’s behind Putin’s plan?
President Putin raises the bar on Belarus, with a direct confirmation of what Alexander Lukashenko claimed some time ago: that Russia will step in to help him, by force, if things go awry.
Exactly what power, and how bad, Mr. Putin has not fully defined. By “law enforcement officers”, however, he does not mean ordinary street police.
The term is much broader, including rebel police, the National Guard (Rosgvardia) and even the FSB. That the potential for some sort of Russian intervention now hangs as an open threat to both opposition leaders and Protestants – and to the West.
Because Vladimir Putin also emphasized the special relationship between Minsk and Moscow – ethnic ties, family ties and economic ties.
Russia oversaw what happened more than once across its border. He nodded to Protestants’ concerns: if there were no problems, they would not be on the streets, Putin said.
But overall, this was a statement of support for President Lukashenko. Russia has got its back.
The EU and the US have rejected the vote of 9 Belarus as neither free nor fair. The EU is preparing sanctions against officials it accuses of being the result of Mr Lukashenko’s victory and beating the opposition movement.
The scale of the demonstrations in the Belarusian capital Minsk is unparalleled. Mr Lukashenko has demanded a sixth term, after 26 years as president, with 80% of the vote.
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A criminal case has been filed against the Opposition Coordinating Council, which has accused Mr Lukashenko of trying to seize power.
- Two prison sentences for leading protests in Belarus
- What is happening in Belarus?
The most prominent opposition leader in Belarus, Maria Kolesnikova, has been questioned by prosecutors. When she arrived at the building of the commission of inquiry in Minsk, she was applauded when she urged supporters not to give up.
Prosecutors on Wednesday questioned the Nobel Prize winner for literature prize Svetlana Alexievich. She told reporters she had refused to answer her questions, saying the council’s activities were completely legal.
The council was launched by Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, the leading opposition candidate for president, who is now in exile in neighboring Lithuania.
