Russian President Vladimir Putin cemented his support of Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko in a meeting on Friday, saying that the West's reaction to the interception and forced landing of a passenger jet 'was an outburst of emotion.'
Russian President Vladimir Putin cemented his support of Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko in a meeting on Friday, saying that the West's reaction to the interception and forced landing of a passenger jet"was an outburst of emotion."
The meeting comes as international condemnation of Belarus continues to grow following what leaders have described as the state-sanctioned hijacking of a passenger flight.A Ryanair flight traveling from Athens to the Lithuanian capital Vilnius was intercepted and forced to land in Minsk as it overflew Belarus on Sunday. When it landed, prominent opposition activist Roman Protasevich and his Russian partner Sofia Sapega, who were on the flight, were both detained.
Death of a Belarusian activist suggests abuse 04:05Putin told Lukashenko on Friday that there was not an international outcry in 2013 a plane carrying Bolivia's president was forced to land in Austria after false rumors circulated that former US National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden was aboard the aircraft.Earlier this week, Lukashenko described the attacks on Belarus as modern hybrid warfare.