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The Russian authorities do not trust the President of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko, but cannot accept the arrival of the opposition to power as a result of the street protests, writes Bloomberg.
Russian President Vladimir Putin believes that the Belarusian opposition will not succeed in removing Alexander Lukashenko from the presidency. Bloomberg reported this on September 13, citing five sources close to the Kremlin.
According to interlocutors, the Kremlin is puzzled by the scale of the protests in Belarus. They do not trust Lukashenka, but they cannot accept the arrival of the opposition to power as a result of the street protests.
Therefore, Russia will continue to support Lukashenko, while pushing him towards a gradual transfer of power, writes Bloomberg.
Mass protests have been going on in Belarus since August 9. The protesters believe that the results of the presidential elections were falsified. According to official data, Lukashenka won with 80.1% of the voters. Opposition candidate Svetlana Tikhanovskaya came in second with 10.1% of the vote. At the same time, alternative exit polls showed the opposite picture: Tikhanovskaya’s confident victory.
The Belarusian security forces violently dispersed the demonstrations, in particular with the use of stun grenades, rubber bullets and water cannons. During the protests, about 10,000 protesters were detained and hundreds were injured and wounded. According to official figures, four protesters died.
Since the beginning of August 2020, when the protests began in Belarus, Putin and Lukashenko have called at least five times. Lukashenko’s website reported on the telephone conversations with Putin on August 7, 15, 16 and 24. Basically, they talked about the rallies that are taking place in the republic. August 30 Putin congratulated the Belarusian leader on his birthday… During this conversation, the two presidents agreed to meet in person.
Putin was one of the leaders who first congratulated Lukashenka on his victory, the day after the elections, even before the official results were announced.
Lukashenka saidthat Russia in the first request will provide Belarus “comprehensive help “to ensure safety. Putin said that Russia, at the request of the President of Belarus formed a pool of security officers to help the Belarusian authorities.
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