Putin agreed to a millionaire loan with Lukashenko as pressure mounted on Belarus by diverting the plane.

Belarusian dictator Alexander Lukashenko and Russian President Vladimir Putin

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Belarusian dictator Alexander Lukashenko agreed to receive Minsk. $ 500 million loan (More than 410 million euros) after a meeting between the two leaders on Friday and amid mounting pressure on Belarus due to the emergency landing of a plane in Minsk.

The Kremlin spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, announced on Saturday that this loan is the second tranche of the loan package that had been agreed before the controversial landing. And that Belarus “has not submitted any request for additional assistance,” according to TASS.

Likewise, Peskov shared that in the aforementioned meeting there were two main topics, “further development of trade and economic cooperation between Russia and Belarus, as well as fighting the epidemic.”

At a meeting held Friday in Sochi in the Russian Caucasus, the Belarusian dictator expressed his dissatisfaction with alleged foreign attempts to bring his country to the levels of crisis recorded after the August 2020 elections.

The European Union maintains the pressure

President of the European Parliament, David Sassoli reiterated this Sunday that he wanted to keep the pressure on Belarus to secure the release of journalist Roman Protasevic and his girlfriend, Sophia Sabija., Who was arrested by the Belarusian authorities after the plane landed.

Russian journalist Roman Protasevich

“We will maintain interest and pressure, and we hope that this leads to their liberation,” he told the German media group Funke, describing the European Union’s response to this crisis as “strong and united.”According to the DPA.

Sassoli suggested this week that airports in European Union member states be filled with pictures of the journalist after leaders agreed to push sanctions against Alexander Lukashenko’s regime and limit the use of Belarusian airspace.

For its part, the European Commission presented this Friday a plan to support the democratic transition in Belarus, a proposal through which it wants to mobilize up to 3000 million in aid, but it will not be activated unless the country progresses on the democratic path.

The proposal comes in line with the agreement of the 27 leaders last fall on a package of support for the Belarusian opposition and its struggle for democracy in the country.

(With information from Europa Press)

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