Belarus Leader Seeks Russia s Support Amid Showdown With EU – Courthouse News Service
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Мы начали терять Донбасс – Климкин рассказал об опасности новой инициативы РФ для Украины
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MOSCOW
Russian President Vladimir Putin warmly welcomed his counterpart from Belarus for talks Friday on forging closer ties amid Minsk’s bruising showdown with the European Union over the diversion of a passenger jet to arrest a dissident journalist.
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has found himself increasingly isolated since flight controllers told the crew of a Ryanair plane to land in Minsk on Sunday citing an alleged bomb threat. No bomb was found, but 26-year-old journalist Raman Protesevich was arrested along with his Russian girlfriend.
EU leaders denounced it as air piracy and responded by barring Belarusian carriers from the bloc’s airspace and airports and advising European airlines to skirt Belarus. EU foreign ministers sketched out tougher sanctions Thursday to target the country’s lucrative potash industry and other cash-earning sectors.