US President Joe Biden said that he instructed his administration to develop options for bringing to justice the people involved in the landing of the Ryanair plane in Minsk and the detention of the co-founder of the Nexta Telegram channel Roman Protasevich. US Assistant to the President for National Security Jake Sullivan in connection with the incident held talks with the opponent of the President of Belarus Svetlana Tikhanovskaya.
“I welcome reports that the EU has called for targeted economic sanctions and other measures, and asked my team to develop options to hold those responsible, in close cooperation with the EU, other allies and partners, and international organizations,” President Biden said in the message of the White House.
Mr. Sullivan told Ms. Tikhanovskaya that the United States, in cooperation with the EU, “will attract the Lukashenko (President of Belarus. – “B”) to the answer ”, stated in another message from the White House. During the talks, the US presidential aide “praised the courage” of Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, her husband Sergei and “hundreds of other Belarusian supporters of democracy, independent journalists and public leaders languishing in Belarusian prisons as political prisoners of the regime.”
Jake Sullivan also discussed the Ryanair flight incident with Irish Foreign Minister Simon Coveney. The parties “condemned the coercion to deviate from the course” of the aircraft and “agreed to keep in touch on an appropriate response.” Ryanair is an Irish carrier.
The Ryanair plane, which was flying from Athens to Vilnius on May 23, landed in Minsk on the personal order of the President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko. The Belarusian special services said that the Palestinian movement “Hamas” informed them about the bomb on board. Hamas denies this.
On the evening of May 24, the leaders of the EU countries called on European airlines to avoid flying over Belarus, and the EU Council to prohibit Belarusian companies from flying over the EU territory and to impose additional sanctions. Authorities in France and the non-EU UK have already given appropriate orders. Lithuania refused to accept planes flying over the country.
About the sanctions of Western countries because of the incident in Minsk – in the material of “Kommersant” “Alyaksandr Lukashenka will soon have no one to jail.”
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