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Russia has agreed to release $ 500 million to Belarus and will try to increase the number of flights between the two countries, as the Kremlin doubled its support for Alexander Lukashenko after his forced landing from a passenger flight that has provoked Western condemnation.
Russian President Vladimir Putin hosted Lukashenko in Sochi on Saturday, offering his guest a yacht trip on the Black Sea a day after the two men held talks for more than five hours.
The two-day summit highlighted Moscow’s position as the autocrat’s closest and most trusted foreign ally, and took place when the US joined the EU in imposing sanctions against Minsk.
Russia’s support for Lukashenko contrasts with the condemnation of the United States and the EU and could complicate preparations for a summit between Putin and US President Joe Biden in Geneva next month, which has been seen as an effort. to normalize relations between Moscow and the West.
Belarusian authorities used a bomb threat and a fighter jet to force a Ryanair flight traveling between Greece and Lithuania to detour to Minsk on May 23, where police then arrested Roman Protasevich, one of the leading dissident journalists, who was on board.
This brazenness described by Ryanair as “state-sponsored piracy” provoked condemnation from Western countries.
The EU has banned Belarus state airline Belavia from its airports and pledged to impose additional sanctions against the country, while on Friday Biden imposed “total blockade sanctions” on nine Belarusian state-owned companies.
The Kremlin has criticized the Western response and announced that a $ 500 million overdue loan would be released in Minsk by the end of June.
The money represents the second tranche of a $ 1 billion financial package Moscow agreed in December to bolster Lukashenko’s finances, hit by the aftermath of mass protests against his fraudulent election victory last year and the impact of Covid-19.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russia and Belarus’s transport ministries would work together to “organize air transport” that would allow Belarusians to travel to Russia for summer vacations and fly from European countries through of Russia, offsetting the impact of the EU flight ban.
“President Lukashenko reported [Putin] in detail about what happened to Ryanair’s plane, “Peskov told reporters, adding that the talks were” very constructive, rich in content. “
The Kremlin has rejected as “Russophobia” Western claims that Moscow assisted Minsk in the operation to arrest Protasevich or that he received prior notice.
The dissident founded a media channel that reported and helped coordinate protests against Lukashenko.
This week, Russia forced at least two European airlines to cancel flights to Moscow after it failed to approve new flight plans involving a diversion around Belarus.
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