[ad_1]
Russia has dismissed the idea that it was involved in the plot to force a Ryanair flight to land in Belarus in order to detain an opposition activist as “obsessive Russophobia.”
Belarusian authorities on Sunday used a false bomb threat and a MiG-29 fighter jet to force landing in Minsk, where dissident journalist Roman Protasevich was detained by police. widespread international condemnation and a promise of EU sanctions.
Dominic Raab, the UK’s foreign secretary, said on Monday that it was “very difficult to believe that such actions could have been taken without at least the acquiescence of the Moscow authorities”, adding that he had no “clear details” about the possible involvement of Russia, Belarus’s neighbor and closest ally.
Russia and Belarus have a deeply integrated air defense system, are military allies and their security services have various cooperation agreements. Last month, Russia also arrested two Belarusian men who said they were plotting a coup against Alexander Lukashenko, the country’s autocratic leader who has ruled since 1994.
The Kremlin dismissed Raab’s accusations. “It’s an obsessive Russophobia, it’s an obsession to blame Russia for everything,” Dmitry Peskov, a spokesman for President Vladimir Putin, told reporters. “It is unfortunate that such politically inappropriate accusations occur.”
In response to the incident, which Ryanair described as “Air Piracy Act”, the UK and the EU banned the Belarusian state airline Belavia from using its airports and called on European airlines to avoid Belarusian airspace.
Brussels also said it would impose “targeted” economic sanctions against Minsk.
Peskov said the restrictions imposed on Belarus were too hasty, as a full investigation into the incident had not yet been carried out.
“It probably doesn’t make sense to try to explain anything, here phobia and obsession are starting to take their toll and the authors of these statements don’t have a chance to assess the situation soberly,” he added.
Kremlin comments came after Russia’s Foreign Ministry on Monday defended Minsk’s actions and accused its critics of hypocrisy, citing other examples of planes diverted by Western nations to arrest wanted people.
Russian state media have also defended Minsk’s actions. Margarita Simonyan, head of the state-funded RT television channel, said Lukashenko had “taken it very well.”
On Tuesday, Moscow also denied reports that four Russian citizens had abandoned the plane in Minsk and had not taken their intended destination, Vilnius.
Maria Zakharova, a spokeswoman for Russia’s foreign ministry, said only one Russian citizen, Protasevich’s girlfriend, Sofya Sapega, remained in Minsk and the others disembarking were from Greece and Belarus. The flight originated in Athens and headed for Vilnius when it left.
[ad_2]
Source link
