MOSCOW (Reuters) – Belarus will impose travel bans on senior officials in Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia in retaliation for measures against its own officials, the foreign minister said Wednesday, as Russia intensified its support for the Belarusian government.
More than 3 weeks after a political crisis erupted in Belarus following accusations of vote manipulation in a presidential election that outgoing President Alexander Lukashenko said he had won, Minsk and his close best friend Moscow are harshly rejecting Lukashenko’s domestic and foreign grievances.
In Moscow, to discuss with his Russian counterpart, Belarusian Foreign Minister Vladimir Makei said his country had agreed to impose retaliatory sanctions on a list of Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia.
The resolution paid off, he said, after the three Baltic countries said Monday that they banned Lukashenko and 29 Belarusian officials from punishing them for their role in alleged vote manipulation and repression of protesters.
Makei refused to say who is on the sanctions list, but said he was targeting Americans who had tried to interfere in his country’s internal affairs, they had done what he called unacceptable political statements and talked about opposition financing.
“For us, this is unacceptable,” he said, warning that Minsk would impose sanctions on any other country that would impose sanctions on Belarus.
The European Union has been on a list of Americans who will be targeted for sanctions, but exclude Lukashenko.
RUSSIAN SUPPORT
Together with Makei, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov showed up strongly to Lukashenko and said Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin would travel to Belarus for talks on Thursday.
Moscow will respond “with firmness and dignity” to anyone who destabilises Belarus or loosens its close ties with Russia, he said.
Lavrov condemned what he said interference in Belarus through open-air forces, saying that two hundred trained Ukrainian extremists were interns of Belarus in an attempt to destabilize it, a fictional accusation according to Kiev.
Lavrov also accused NATO and the European Union of making “destructive” statements about Belarus. He said Moscow saw no interest in the Belarusian opposition council, which arose amid national protests against the government.
Complaining of what he described as the council’s first anti-Russian statement, he accused him of breaking the law by asking law enforcement to replace the sides.
Council leaders have said they only need to verify to identify a transition of nonviolent power.
In another sign of Russian support, the russian and Belarusian heads of armies discussed arrangements for joint army training in Belarus this year before the Belarusian defense minister’s visit to Moscow on Friday.
Lukashenko also thanked the state-backed Russian television channel RT for sending newscasts to help Belarusian state media after some staff members went on strike to protest against his regime.
(Editing via Angus MacSwan)
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