MINSK: Belarus was bracing Sunday for more mass protests against strongman Alexander Lukashenko, who has ordered the army to defend the country’s territorial integrity after demonstrations broke out over his claim to election victory.
Opponents of Europe’s longest serving leader have organized strikes and the largest protests in the ex-Soviet country’s recent history rejecting his re-election and demanding that he stand down, with more than 100,000 people turning out across Belarus last weekend.
Pro-democracy protesters must “struggle for their rights” and not be distracted by the authoritarian leader’s claims that the country was under military threat, opposition figurehead Svetlana Tikhanovskaya told AFP on Saturday.
“We are people of Belarus and we are a majority and we will not step away. We are not afraid of them any more,” she said.
As Tikhanovskaya urged on protesters inside Belarus, Lukashenko — who said he won a sixth presidential term with 80 percent of the vote two weeks ago — turned to its borders.
On Saturday he inspected military units in Grodno, near Belarus’s frontier with Poland, according to the president’s press service.
The 65-year-old denounced the mass protests, which he said were receiving support from Western countries, and ordered the army to defend western Belarus, which he described as “a pearl.”
“It involves taking the most stringent measures to protect the territorial integrity of our country,” Lukashenko said.
His visit comes ahead of large-scale military exercises planned in the Grodno region between August 28 and 31.
The former collective farm director said NATO troops in Poland and Lithuania were “seriously stirring” near their borders with Belarus and ordered his troops into full combat readiness.
Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda denied the accusation Saturday.
“The regime is trying to divert attention from Belarus’s internal problems at any cost with totally baseless statements about imaginary external threats,” Nauseda told AFP.
Lithuania’s foreign ministry also announced Saturday that US Deputy Secretary of State Stephen Biegun will visit Lithuania and Russia next week for talks on the election fallout.
The European Union this week rejected Lukashenko’s re-election and vowed to levy sanctions against what it said was a substantial number of people responsible for rigging the vote and cracking down on protests.
The Belarusian authorities have opened a criminal investigation into the opposition’s Coordination Council, whose members are seeking new elections and a peaceful transition of power.
Lukashenko has rejected the idea of holding another ballot, dismissed calls to resign and accused the opposition of attempting to seize power.
On Friday he vowed to “solve the problem” of the protest movement.
Belarus braces for mass protests as Lukashenko orders army to defend nation
Belarus braces for mass protests as Lukashenko orders army to defend nation
- Opponents of Europe’s longest serving leader have organized strikes and the largest protests in the ex-Soviet country’s recent history rejecting his re-election
- Belarusian authorities have opened a criminal investigation into the opposition’s Coordination Council, whose members are seeking new elections and a peaceful transition of power
Kremlin welcomes US sanctions waiver says US and Russia share interest in stable energy markets
DUBAI: Russia sees a U.S. sanctions waiver on its oil as an attempt by Washington to stabilise global energy markets, and the two countries have a shared interest in this, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Friday.
"We see actions by the United States aimed at trying to stabilise energy markets. In this respect, our interests coincide," he said.
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced a temporary authorisation allowing countries around the world to purchase Russian oil currently stranded at sea on Thursday extending a measure that had previously been granted only to Indian refiners.
Bessent stressed in a post on X that the authorisation would not provide significant financial benefit to the Russian government.
“This narrowly tailored, short-term measure applies only to oil already in transit and will not provide significant financial benefit to the Russian government, which derives the majority of its energy revenue from taxes assessed at the point of extraction,” Bessent said on a post on X.
However, the measure received mix reviews in European capitals, with many fearing it could help replenish Russia's assualt on Ukraine.
"I am concerned that we are further filling Putin's war chest," German Economy Minister Katherina Reiche said in Berlin on Friday.
Reiche said that she saw both sides to the United States' decision to issue a 30-day waiver for the purchase of Russian oil products, understanding the increasing ecnomic and political turnout from the oil crisis, particurlarly in South Korea and Japan.
"It seems to me that domestic political pressure in the United States is very, very high," Reiche said.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz was more direct, saying on Friday that it was wrong to ease sanctions against Russia for whatever reason. The sentiment was echoed by Norway’s Prime Minister, who also said sanctions should not be eased.
Oil prices held gains above $100 Friday and most equity markets dropped after Iran's leader called for the blocking of the crucial Strait of Hormuz and the opening up of new fronts in the war against the United States and Israel.
With the conflict heading towards its third week and showing no signs of ending, investors are growing increasingly worried about an extended crisis that could fan inflation and hammer the global economy.
