According to reports by state-run Belta news agency, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko on Thursday ordered authorities to invite Russia and Ukraine’s prosecutors to Minsk to resolve the case of a group of alleged Russian mercenaries it detained last week.
On July 30, Belarus’ security services announced the arrest of 33 Russian mercenaries on suspicion of terrorism and accused them of trying to destabilize the country ahead of its August 9 presidential election. Intelligence officials have launched a criminal investigation against the men, and claim that the individuals were members of a private military firm called the Wagner Group. The group is reportedly sponsored by St. Petersburg businessman Yevgeny Prigozhin, a close associate of President Vladimir Putin, and promotes Moscow’s interests in Ukraine, Syria, and Libya. If convicted, they could face up to 20 years in prison.
Russia has denied that the individuals held were plotting terror activities and were linked to anti-Lukashenko activists. Moscow insists that they were only transiting via Belarus en route to Istanbul and that they had no mission to interfere in the Belarusian presidential election. However, Lukashenko has accused Russian authorities of lying, thus prompting Moscow to warn Minsk of the grave consequences that any unilateral decision regarding the case would yield on relations between the two nations. The countries have been close allies for many years and are bound together by language, similar political systems, and a shared admiration for many aspects of the Soviet Union. However, their relations have been strained in recent years, as Putin has pushed Lukashenko to implement a plan to form a “union state”, effectively making Russia a senior partner in this merger.
Ukraine, on the other hand, has asked 28 of the 33 people arrested extradited to the country over their involvement in fighting alongside Russia-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine. Lukashenko spoke with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and assured him that Belarusian law enforcement bodies would cooperate on the issue within the framework of the international agreements signed with Russia and with Ukraine.
Belarus to Invite Russia and Ukraine Prosecutors to Discuss Alleged Mercenaries
On July 30, Belarus arrested 33 Russian mercenaries on suspicion of terrorism.
August 7, 2020
Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko SOURCE: EURONEWS