Russia supports Lukashenko with new million dollar loan
“Lukashenko is no longer socially acceptable in the West”
After the forced landing of an aircraft and the arrest of government critic Protasevich, the pressure on the Belarusian ruler Lukashenko increased. Putin receives his alleged “friend” in Sochi on Friday. WELT correspondent Christoph Vanner on the relationship between the two.
Russian President Vladimir Putin received Belarusian ruler Lukashenko in Sochi – results of the meeting are already available. Russia will provide financial support to Belarus.
RUSland wants to support authoritarian-led Belarus in the coming weeks with a loan of US $ 500 million. According to the Interfax Agency, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Saturday that in a meeting between Belarusian ruler Alexander Lukashenko and Russian President Vladimir Putin, it was agreed that the money would be paid by the end of June.
This is the second installment of the loan that was set before the forcible landing of a passenger aircraft in Minsk last Sunday, which was heavily criticized internationally. The US previously imposed new sanctions on Belarus.
In the coming weeks, punitive measures will again be implemented against nine state-owned companies, US President Joe Biden, a spokesman for Jane Saki, announced. The United States announced that it was preparing targeted sanctions against “key figures in governance” in consultation with the European Union and other partners. The US State Department also issued a travel warning for the former Soviet republic. The US aviation authority FAA warned airlines to take “extreme caution” when flying over Belarus.
The European Union had already agreed to new sanctions on Monday. It also promised a three billion euro aid package to Belarus. However, it should be activated only when the country has “initiated a democratic transition”. Luxembourg Foreign Minister Jean Esselborn said on the WDR that the next target was a “list of people” who organized the robbery. In addition, they continue to work on economic sanctions.
On the second day of their meeting, Putin and Lukashenko pose on a boat during a voyage to the Black Sea
Source: AFP / Sergey Eileen
The confrontation between Belarus and the West came to light when Lukashenko landed a Ryanair passenger plane last Sunday to arrest one of his rivals. Blogger Roman Protaswitz has since been in custody, as is his friend Sophia Sapega, a Russian.
Kremlin spokesman Peskov said Sápega’s fate is “not indifferent” to Russia. Also, he insisted that the 23-year-old was a Russian citizen, but was allowed residence in Belarus.
Belarus is financially badly affected
Lukashenko flew to Putin in Sochi on the Black Sea under the pressure of the latest sanctions. According to the Kremlin, the talks were mainly about trade and economic cooperation between the two countries. Belarus is financially badly affected and is already in Chalk near Moscow with Arabs.
Meanwhile, opposition leader Svetlana Tichanovskaya, who fled to the European Union country of Lithuania, called for solidarity with Protasevich, Sapega and other political prisoners. People gathered for rallies all over the world including Berlin.
