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Monday, September 14, 2020, 22:36
Putin approves US$1.5b loan after meeting Belarus leader
By Reuters
Monday, September 14, 2020, 22:36 By Reuters

In this June 30, 2020 file photo, Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Belarus' counterpart Alexander Lukashenko take part in a ceremony unveiling the Soviet Soldier Memorial near Rzhev, Russia's Tver region. ( Mikhail KLIMENTYEV / SPUTNIK / AFP)

MOSCOW - Russian President Vladimir Putin approved a US$1.5 billion loan for Belarus on Monday after meeting with its embattled leader, Alexander Lukashenko.

A day after more than 100,000 protesters took to the streets of Minsk for the fifth straight weekend to demand his removal, Lukashenko, who has led Russia’s closest ally for 26 years, flew to the Black Sea resort of Sochi to meet Putin.

In addition to announcing the loan, which Putin said Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin had agreed during a recent visit to the Belarusian capital, the Russian president signalled support for Lukashenko in other ways, saying defence cooperation would continue between the two countries.

Russian news agencies reported separately that Moscow was sending paratroopers on Monday for joint exercises.

READ MORE: Russia warns US, EU against interference in Belarus

Putin also backed plans Lukashenko has previously announced for constitutional reform, which the opposition has dismissed as a stunt to cling to power after an election it says was rigged, and said it was up to Belarusians to resolve the crisis themselves.

Despite increasingly aggressive action from his security forces, Lukashenko has failed to reclaim the streets from demonstrators, who taunted him in their tens of thousands on Sunday with chants of “You’re a rat!”

Lukashenko calls the demonstrations a Western plot and has placed his fate in Moscow’s hands, requesting economic support and military aid.

Since the Aug 9 presidential election, which Lukashenko denies rigging, thousands of people have been arrested and nearly all the opposition’s main leaders have been jailed, deported or forced into exile.

Police said they detained 774 people at Sunday’s protests.

The opposition says it fears Lukashenko could try to sell out Belarusian independence for Putin’s support. Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, the opposition candidate whose supporters say she was the true winner of the election, said no agreement reached by Lukashenko with Putin would be valid.

“I want to remind Vladimir Putin: whatever you accept and whatever you agree upon during the meeting in Sochi will have no legal weight,” she wrote on social media site Telegram.

ALSO READ: Belarus protest leader detained at border as Lukashenko rejects talks

“All the agreements signed with an illegitimate Lukashenko will be revised by the new leadership. Because the Belarusian people have refused to put their trust in Lukashenko and support him at the election. I am very sorry that you have decided to engage in dialogue with a dictator and not the Belarusian people.”


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