Russian President Vladimir Putin, right, listens to Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko during their meeting in the Black Sea resort of Sochi, Russia, May 28, 2021. (MIKHAIL KLIMENTYEV/SPUTNIK POOL PHOTO VIA AP)

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday offered his Belarusian counterpart Alexander Lukashenko support in his standoff with the West over his handling of the grounding of a passenger jet, agreeing with Lukashenko that the West's reaction to the incident was "an outburst of emotion".

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The West has accused Belarus of piracy after Belarusian air traffic control on Sunday informed the Ryanair pilot of a hoax bomb threat and Minsk scrambled a MiG-29 fighter plane to escort the jetliner down, and then arrested blogger Roman Protasevich along with his girlfriend.

Putin recalled an incident that took place in 2013, when the airplane of the Bolivian president was forced to land at a different location, pointing out the reaction back then was rather quiet

Putin, a close ally of Lukashenko, gave his support to Lukashenko, warmly welcoming him for talks in the southern Russian city of Sochi and agreeing with Lukashenko that the West's reaction to the incident was "an outburst of emotion".

"At one time they forced the Bolivian president's plane to land and took him out of the plane and nothing, silence," said Putin, referring to a 2013 incident in which Evo Morales' plane was forced to land in Austria at a time when the United States was trying to intercept whistleblower Edward Snowden.

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The talks in the Black Sea city of Sochi were organized before the plane incident, but come after many European nations have imposed flight bans on Belarusian aviation and the EU is weighing further sanctions.

Lukashenko told Putin he would show him some confidential documents about the Ryanair incident that would help the Russian leader understand what really happened.

Lukashenko told Putin he would show him some confidential documents about the Ryanair incident that would help the Russian leader understand what really happened

"There is always someone who causes problems for us. You know about them, I'll inform you," Lukashenko told Putin.

"I brought some documents so that you understand what is happening."

Looking relaxed and smiling, Putin had earlier suggested the two men take a sea dip, something Lukashenko agreed to.

Moscow says Belarus has shown a readiness for transparency in the row and has described the West's reaction to the plane incident as "shocking," with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov accusing it of "demonizing" the authorities in Minsk.

Russia and Belarus, which are formally part of a "union state", have been in talks for years to further integrate their nations. Putin told Lukashenko the two men were continuing to build the union state, but were doing so steadily, without haste, and in a low-key way.