Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov is convinced that the people of Belarus can figure out the current situation for themselves.
"I really hope that Belarusians, like all friends of Belarusians abroad, Belarus has a lot of friends, they will be able to sort out their own affairs and will not be led by those who need Belarus solely to develop the geopolitical space, in order to promote the well - known destructive logic: either you are with the Russian Federation, or you are with Europe," Lavrov said on "Russia 1".
"I am convinced that the Belarusian people can understand the current situation in their own wisdom," he added.
According to him, in 2014, when the Maidan happened in Ukraine, it was with this logic "either - or" that many officials of the member states of the European Union spoke.
The elections in Belarus were not perfect, but they cannot be used to undermine a normal, mutually respectful dialogue between the government and society, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said.
"This does not mean that the elections were perfect. Of course not. There is much evidence of this. This is also recognized by the Belarusian leadership, which is trying to enter into a dialogue with citizens protesting against what they consider to be infringements of their rights," Lavrov said.
"I would simply advise everyone not to try to use this situation in Belarus (and it is not easy) to undermine the normal, mutually respectful dialogue between the government and society, to make it provocative," the Russian Minister said.
"I do not see a lack of readiness on the part of the authorities for dialogue. And I very much hope that the same readiness will be shown on the side of those who are dissatisfied with the election results for one reason or another," Lavrov said.
Mass protest actions of the opposition began across Belarus on August 9, after the presidential election, which was won for the sixth time by the current Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko – according to the CEC, he won 80.1% of the vote. The opposition believes that the elections were won by Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, not Lukashenko. In the first days, the actions were suppressed by security forces, and tear gas, water cannons, stun grenades, and rubber bullets were used against protesters who did not agree with the results. Then law enforcement agencies stopped dispersing rallies and using force methods. According to official data, more than 6,700 people were detained in the first days. As reported by the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic, hundreds of people were injured during the riots, including more than 120 law enforcement officers, and two protesters were killed.
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Photo: Russian Foreign Ministry
Based on materials from RIA Novosti