Belarus president claims Putin will save dictatorship
BELARUS’S embattled dictator Alexander Lukashenko yesterday claimed Vladimir Putin had agreed to provide military support if needed as he clung on to power in the face of a growing pro-democracy revolution.
Police launched a violent crackdown on protests that broke out last weekend when Mr Lukashenko claimed 80 per cent of the vote in a presidential election, results largely seen as completely fabricated. But authorities failed to contain the demonstrations, and pressure is mounting at home and abroad on Mr Lukashenko to step down, after ruling the Eastern European country with an iron fist for 26 years.
Mr Lukashenko said last night that
Russia and Belarus remained tied with a treaty with a “military component”.
“I had a long, thorough conversation with the Russian president today,” he said in comments carried by the Belta news agency yesterday. “He and I agreed comprehensive aid to ensure the security of the Republic of Belarus will be provided at our first request.”
Moscow sees Belarus as a strategically important buffer against Nato and the European Union, and will have no desire to see the current leadership replaced with a Westernising reformer.
The Kremlin has, however, remained tight-lipped throughout the crisis on whether it would seek to prop up the regime. Analysts say direct intervention of the type seen during the 2014 Ukraine crisis, when pro-democracy protests ousted a Moscow-backed leader, is unlikely at this stage.
Mr Putin and Mr Lukashenko spoke yesterday and both expressed “confidence that all the problems that have arisen will be resolved soon,” the Kremlin said, without describing what if any action would be taken. A Kremlin statement afterwards made no mention of any security assistance.
The call came after the Belarusian leader told government officials that he needed to speak with Mr Putin “because this is not a threat to just Belarus any more. Defending Belarus today is no less than defending our entire space, the union state, and an example to others … Those who roam the streets, most of them do not understand this”.
At least two people were killed and more than 6,500 were arrested during nightly crackdowns on demonstrations in Belarus, which saw police use stun grenades, rubber bullets and tear gas.
Released protesters displayed severe injuries, and Amnesty International described a campaign of “widespread torture” in jails. Recent days have seen continued peaceful protests, with tens of thousands on the streets of Minsk.
Mr Lukashenko’s appeal to workers to end widespread strikes has fallen on deaf ears.
The presidents of the neighbouring Baltic states called on Belarus to conduct new “free and fair” elections as the EU prepared to impose sanctions in response to police brutality.
Mike Pompeo, the US secretary of state, said at a news conference in Warsaw, 125 miles from the border with Belarus: “We’ve said the elections themselves [in Belarus] weren’t free. I’ve spent the last days consulting with our European partners.
“Our common objective is to support the Belarusian people. These people are demanding the same things that every human being wants.”
Mr Lukashenko rejected calls for foreign mediation, though the foreign ministry said it was committed to continuing dialogue with the EU.
Belarusian opposition leader Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, who fled to Lithuania this week after apparent threats to her children, has said she is the legitimate winner of the election and announced the creation of a committee to oversee a transfer of power.
Yesterday, thousands of people gathered at the Minsk Metro station where protester Alexander Taraikovsky died during demonstrations.
Authorities said he died when an explosive went off in his hands, but his wife insists he was killed by police.
“He is a hero of Belarus who has died for our freedom,” 33-year-old Vitaly Karazahn, who had a Belarusian flag on his shoulders and two white roses in his hands, told The Sunday Telegraph.
Moscow has described the presidential election as legitimate and accused outside forces of seeking to destabilise Belarus. At the same time, Russian state media report that the Belarus demonstrations are “peaceful”.
‘We’ve said the elections themselves weren’t free. I’ve spent the last days consulting with our European partners’