The European Union (EU), has urged Russia not to intervene in Belarus after President Vladimir Putin vowed military support for the country’s embattled leader.
As EU foreign ministers meeting in Berlin discussed the crisis, President Alexander Lukashenko who is currently facing unprecedented protests calling for him to quit, accused the West of trying to topple him in order to weaken Moscow.
Meanwhile neighbouring Ukraine, which saw its own pro-Russian leader toppled after bloody protests in 2014, has offered refuge to Belarusians fleeing a regime crackdown.
The EU has rejected the official results of an August 9 presidential poll in Belarus, which saw Lukashenko re-elected with 80 percent of votes, and is preparing sanctions against his regime for electoral fraud and a violent crackdown on opposition protesters.
Putin on Thursday said he stood ready to send in his military to stabilise Belarus after weeks of huge demonstrations calling for Lukashenko, often dubbed “Europe’s last dictator”, to quit and hold new elections.
French President Emmanuel Macron was blunter, telling reporters in Paris that the “worst thing would be Russian intervention” in Belarus.
EU Foreign Affairs High Representative, Josep Borell said Russian doesn’t need to interfere as the situation is an internal affairs for Belarus and they do not want external interference.
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