The talks between Vladimir Putin and his Belarusian counterpart Alexander Lukashenko have been going on for more than five hours.
At a meeting in Sochi, the leaders have already discussed the situation with the Ryanair plane, which landed in Minsk on May 23 after the announcement of mining.
This flight was flown by Roman Protasevich, the founder of the Nexta Telegram channel, recognized as extremist in Belarus. According to Lukashenko, the reaction of Western countries to these events speaks of an attempt to destabilize the situation in Minsk – just as it was in August 2020.
In turn, Putin recalled that in 2013, the plane of Bolivian President Evo Morales was landed in Vienna due to rumors that a former CIA agent Edward Snowden was on board, who is accused in the United States of disclosing state secrets. The Russian leader noted that this event did not provoke such a violent reaction from Western partners. According to Lukashenko, he intends to show his Russian counterpart “some documents” on the situation with the Ryanair flight.
The presidents also touched upon issues of economic and energy cooperation. Putin noted the growth of trade between the two countries. He pointed out that the commissioning of the first unit of the BelNPP will take place in June.