US Congressmen Condemn Russian Proposal to Assist Belarusian President
US Congressmen Michael McCaul, Republican Leader on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, and Eliot Engel, the Committee's Chairman, have condemned Russia's proposal of assistance to Belarus in connection with the protests in the country.
Belarus’s President Alexander Lukashenko earlier said that his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin had promised him “comprehensive security assistance” against the protests sweeping his country.
Lukashenko referred to the agreements between the two countries within the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) and the Russia-Belarus Union State.
"CSTO spokesman Vladimir Zainetdinov later said that Belarus could turn to the CSTO for assistance if its defense was jeopardized by an external threat. The organization itself stated that no requests from Belarus to the CSTO secretariat had been received, and should they be received, they would be considered in the appropriate manner; all decisions were made after relevant consultations with all member states," urdupoint.com reports in the article by Umer Jamshaid.
"We strongly condemn Russian President Vladimir Putin's reckless offer to provide military assistance to the Lukashenko regime in Belarus," the US Congressmen said in their statement.
"We urge the Administration to continue to reject Moscow's aggression and to work with our European allies to support the Belarusian people, to demand the thousands of detained peaceful demonstrators and political prisoners are released, to condemn the Belarusian authorities' excessive use of violence, and to defend Belarus's sovereign right to chart its own future," they said.
Incumbent President Alexander Lukashenko won the 2020 election in Belarus with a reported 80.23% of the vote, which was met with widespread protests throughout the country and violent repression by the Belarusian authorities. Protests in Belarus have been ongoing since the August 9 presidential election.
By Ana Dumbadze
Related story: Belarus Draws Largest Protest Yet as Lukashenko Rejects Election Rerun
Image: Eliot Engel & Michael McCaul/Getty Images