US working closely with EU on Ryanair Plane incident
ANI
24 May 2021, 10:37 GMT+10
Washington DC [US], May 24 (ANI): US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Sunday said that Washington is calling for a full probe into the Ryanair flight emergency landing in Minsk and is working closely with the European Union (EU) on unraveling the incident. The United States strongly condemns the forced diversion of a flight between two EU member states and the subsequent removal and arrest of journalist Raman Pratasevich in Minsk. We demand his immediate release, Blinken said in a statement.
The US State Secretary said the incident endangered the lives of over 120 passengers, including US citizens.
Liudas Dapkus
The Ryanair plane with registration number SP-RSM, carrying opposition figure Raman Pratasevich which was traveling from Athens to Vilnius and was diverted to Minsk after a bomb threat, lands at the International Airport outside Vilnius, Lithuania, Sunday, May 23, 2021. The presidential press service said President Alexander Lukashenko personally ordered that a MiG-29 fighter jet accompany the Ryanair plane carrying opposition figure Raman Pratasevich and traveling from Athens, Greece, to Vilnius, Lithuania to the airport in the capital Minsk. (AP Photo/Mindaugas Kulbis) May 23, 2021 - 6:30 PM
VILNIUS, Lithuania (AP) â A prominent opponent of Belarus authoritarian president was arrested Sunday after the airliner in which he was traveling was diverted to the country after a bomb threat, in what the opposition and Western officials denounced as a hijacking operation by the government.
Belarus orders Ryanair flight from Athens to Vilnius to divert to Minsk, claiming bomb threat; Raman Pratasevich, who faces 15 years in jail, was detained when it landed
(Last Updated On: May 24, 2021)
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Sunday said the United States has not seen yet whether Iran will move to comply with its nuclear commitments in order to have sanctions removed even as ongoing talks have shown progress.
Iran’s president last week said the United States was ready to lift trade sanctions, although a senior Iranian official contradicted him and European diplomats said difficult issues remained.
Indirect talks have been underway in Vienna as the Biden administration seeks a path forward with Iran, including how Tehran can resume compliance with its 2105 nuclear deal with world powers.
Belarus forces airliner to land and arrests opponent Hits: 137
Opposition blogger and activist Roman Protasevich, who is accused of participating in an unsanctioned protest at the Kuropaty preserve, arrives for a court hearing in Minsk, Belarus April 10, 2017.
MOSCOW Belarusian authorities scrambled a fighter jet and flagged what turned out to be a false bomb alert to force a Ryanair plane to land on Sunday and then detained an opposition-minded journalist who was on board, drawing condemnation from Europe and the United States. In what was described by some EU leaders as a hijacking, the passenger plane flying from Athens to Lithuania was suddenly diverted to Minsk, the capital of Belarus, escorted there by a Soviet-era MiG-29 fighter jet. On its landing, authorities took journalist Roman Protasevich into custody.