Moscow/Washington D.C.: The forcible landing of Ryanair flight FR4978 in Minsk, Belarus on May 23, 2021 has become a flashpoint in Russia, USA relations ahead of the June 16, 2021 meeting between US President Joe Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Geneva, date of which was announced today by White House.
It may be mentioned that Raman Pratasevich, 26, resident in Lithuania and one of the founders of the Nexta – a Warsaw-based media group was on board the flight. Nexta had played a prominent role in covering and directing the huge protests that erupted last year against Belarus’s president Alexander Lukashenko after his victory in elections which many claimed to be flawed. In November last year, Belarus had placed Pratasevich on a terrorist watchlist and charged him with three protest-related crimes, the most serious of which could put him in jail for up to 15 years.
After President Lukashenko gave an “irrevocable command to turn the plane around and land it”, Belarusian authorities sent fighter planes to get the Lithuania bound commercial plane landed in Minx to arrest the journalist.
The US and European Union countries expressed their concern over this and called on the Belarusian authorities to justify the detention of the journalist. US President Joe Biden called Belarus’s forced diversion of the commercial Ryanair flight, and subsequent removal and arrest of Pratasevich, “a direct affront to international norms”. Calling the incident “shameful assaults on both political dissent and the freedom of the press”, Biden condemned “in the strongest possible terms both the diversion of the plane and the subsequent removal and arrest of Mr. Pratasevich” .
“The United States joins countries around the world in calling for his release, as well as for the release of the hundreds of political prisoners who are being unjustly detained by the Lukashenka regime,” Biden stated.
However, taking a divergent view, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Moscow believed it necessary to judge this incident based on all available information rather than in a rush.
“The official spokesman of the Foreign Ministry of Belarus made a detailed statement on this score, emphasising the readiness of the Belarusian authorities to act transparently on this case, follow all international rules and guarantee, if need be, the arrival of international experts. I think this is an absolutely reasonable approach,” Lavrov told journalists to a pointed question in this regard in Moscow. He pointed out that Belarus was ready to provide all the necessary materials to confirm that the aviation authorities acted in line with international rules.
Lavrov was quick to add though that this was not an isolated case and there were many similar cases, some at the behest of the USA. “The best-known episode took place in 2013, when Austria forced the Bolivian President’s aircraft to land at US insistence, without any subsequent apologies,” he said. He further pointed out that there was also a case in 2016 when a Belarusian aircraft was forced to land in Kiev because the Ukrainian Security Service was interested in an Armenian citizen who was on board. He was removed from the flight, and the plane continued its journey without any apologies.
“Let me emphasise once again that it is necessary to adopt a sensible approach to this situation. The Belarusian authorities are ready to provide all the required information,” Lavrov said.
The US Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken had earlier stated that the US was “closely coordinating its response with its partners, including the EU and Lithuanian and Greek officials. “Given indications the forced landing was based on false pretenses, we support the earliest possible meeting of the Council of the International Civil Aviation Organization to review these events,” Blinken had stated and condemned the Lukashenka regime’s ongoing harassment and arbitrary detention of journalists. “We stand with the Belarusian people in their aspirations for a free, democratic, and prosperous future and support their call for the regime to respect human rights and fundamental freedoms,” Blinken had said.
Now all eyes are on the June summit. White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki told reporters that the the leaders will discuss the full range of pressing issues, “as we seek to restore predictability and stability to the U.S.-Russia relationship”. Earlier, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov had said in an interview to newspaper Argumenty i Fakty in Moscow on May 24, that “Preparing the agenda is part of the analysis of the American initiative to hold a summit meeting. Ultimately, our leaders themselves will decide what issues to discuss at their meeting.”President Vladimir Putin had pointed out on numerous occasions, that Russia was willing to discuss and coordinate solutions to any topics on the bilateral agenda, as well as to work together to settle global problems and regional conflicts and crises. “The main thing is for our dialogue to be based on the principles of equality, mutual respect and a balance of interests,” Lavrov stated.
Above Photo: The Tsar Canon by Tatyana Kazakova from Pixabay
