Lukashenko informed Putin in detail about the Ryanair crash landing

The President of Belarus, Alexandr Lukashenko, informed his Russian colleague, Vladimir Putin, in detail about the forced landing on May 23 of the Ryanair plane, which covered the route between Athens and Vilnius, the Kremlin reported today.. In addition, Putin asked Lukashenko for clarification on the arrest of the Russian citizen Sofía Sapega who was accompanying the opposition journalist Román Protrasevich, arrested after the controversial descent of the aircraft in Minsk.

“At the initiative of the Russian president, the issue of the Russian citizen who was arrested and is now in pretrial detention was raised,” Kremlin spokesman Dimitri Peskov was quoted as saying by the Interfax agency.. Putin and Lukashenko resumed their negotiations this Saturday in the Russian resort of Sochi, on the shores of the Black Sea, which began on Friday afternoon and lasted for more than 5 hours, according to official sources..

A Telegram channel close to the Belarusian president wrote that today's talks, unlike the meeting that took place the day before, are being held in an informal atmosphere and published an image in which Putin and Lukashenko are talking on board a yacht.. According to the Kremlin spokesman, the meeting between the two leaders, the third so far this year, was “constructive”.

Peskov stressed that Belarus had provided Russia with “all the information” necessary about the incident with the Ryanair plane, but in case there was such a need, it could provide “more data”.. The Kremlin representative thus responded to a question about the contents of a briefcase that Lukashenko brought yesterday to the meeting with Putin with “some documents” about the incident that caused an international scandal..

In the case of the situation with the Ryanair plane, Russia favors a “serious approach”, Peskov said. “We have been and continue to be against multiple investigations, which are more emotional than substantive.. We are in favor of a serious approach, based on international law in the field of international air transport,” he added..

Peskov also announced that the Transport Ministries of both countries will proceed to coordinate their actions in view of the restrictions imposed on the Belarusian state airline Belavia to fly to Europe.. “Issues related to air traffic organization were addressed in view of the decision of European authorities and many airlines to avoid (Belarusian) airspace and make Belavia an unwelcome guest in European cities,” he said.. Previously, the Telegram channel Pul Pervogo announced that the leaders of Russia and Belarus had agreed on new flight routes for Belavia to Russian cities following the ban imposed on the company in the European Union..

The general director of Belavia, Igor Cherginets, described this Saturday as “petty” the European sanctions against the airlines and regretted that Brussels is punishing Belavia before the start of an investigation into the forced landing of the Ryanair plane with which the airline did not has any relation. “Maybe the investigation of the culprits but they will not be from Belavia,” said the manager in a message posted on Facebook.