MIKHAIL KLIMENTYEV
At a meeting between Belarusian ruler Alexander Lukashenko and Russian President Vladimir Putin, it was agreed that the money would be paid out by the end of June, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Saturday, according to the Interfax agency. It is the second tranche of a loan that was decided on last Sunday before the forced landing of a passenger plane in Minsk, which was heavily criticized internationally.
Putin and Lukashenko mainly discussed issues of trade and economic cooperation between the two countries at their meeting in Sochi on the Black Sea, said Peskov. Belarus is economically badly hit and is already in the chalk with Moscow with billions. At the start of his visit, the long-term Belarusian ruler complained on Friday about the pressure exerted on his country by the West.
The EU and the US have imposed new sanctions on Belarus after the incident involving the Ryanair plane. The Kremlin accused Brussels of having reacted emotionally.
Lukashenko had the plane brought to the ground in Minsk last Sunday in order to arrest one of his opponents. The blogger Roman Protassewitsch, who is critical of the government, has been in custody since then, as has his friend Sofia Sapega, a Russian.
The fate of Sapega is “not indifferent to Russia,” said Kremlin spokesman Peskov. At the same time, he emphasized that the 23-year-old was a Russian citizen, but had a residence permit in Belarus.