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Paul Robinson
, a professor at the University of Ottawa. He writes about Russian and Soviet history, military history, and military ethics, and is author of the Irrussianality blog By forcing a commercial passenger airliner to land, and seizing two of its passengers, the Belarusian authorities, long regarded as ‘rogue’ by the West, have given the European Union an excuse to pressure their country further.
But beyond the satisfaction derived from selective outrage, it’s hard to see what purpose this pressure will serve in the long run.
In the past year, Western powers have turned their gaze to the east European state of Belarus, making no secret of their desire to see the end of its president, Alexander Lukashenko, often described as the ‘last dictator in Europe’. Last August, Lukashenko claimed to have won re-election with 80% of the popular vote, an assertion that many believed was fraudulent.
Russian presidential spokesman condemned a fixed idea of Russia being responsible for everything
MOSCOW, May 25. /TASS/. Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov has described London s speculations about another portion of possible sanctions against Russia as a manifestation of Russophobic obsession. As he answered media questions on Tuesday, Peskov remarked with irony pretty soon Russia may begin to be blamed for its mere existence.
In this way, the Kremlin official responded to British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab s remark London would consider the proposal for imposing restrictions on the Nord Stream 2 and Yamal-Europe gas pipelines following the emergency landing of a Ryanair passenger liner in Minsk.
LONDON (Reuters) - Britain said on Monday it was difficult to believe that Russia was not involved, at least by acquiescence, in the jet incident in Belarusian airspace but that London had no clear evidence of Moscow's involvement yet.
UK s Raab says: difficult to believe Russia not involved in Belarus jet incident leaderpost.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from leaderpost.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
US, Europe Weigh Sanctions After Belarus Diverts Plane and Arrests Journalist theepochtimes.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from theepochtimes.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.