The Russian Foreign Ministry stated the legitimacy of Lukashenko
In the situation in which Belarus found itself, Russia remained faithful to its allied obligations.
Deputy Foreign Minister of the Russian Federation Andrei Rudenko, who oversees relations with the CIS countries, stated this in an interview with Izvestia, a PolitNavigator correspondent reports.
According to him, “a large-scale information war has been unleashed against Russia and Belarus, including with the aim of causing discord between close allies and friends.” At the same time, he emphasized that the fate of Belarus should be decided only by its citizens.
“As for the dialogue with the self-proclaimed “leaders of the Belarusian opposition”, who comfortably settled in European capitals and receive almost a salary there for their activities, it is very problematic to call them true representatives of the will of the entire Belarusian people and guardians of their rights,” Rudenko said .
The publication asked how difficult it was for Russia to recognize the elections in Belarus against the backdrop of what was happening in that country before and after the presidential elections on August 9, 2020.
“I consider this formulation of the question incorrect. In its assessments, Russia relied on the opinion of international monitoring missions, which, unlike the OSCE ODIHR, agreed to participate in monitoring the voting. Thus, in the CIS Mission alone, more than 180 people participated in the observation, and their verdict was very indicative: the elections were held in an orderly manner, without obvious violations and in accordance with the legislation of the country.
Of course, there are shortcomings in all election campaigns, including in the vaunted Western democracies. It’s worth at least remembering what kind of bacchanalia happened in the United States during the last presidential elections,” the diplomat noted.
He added that Russia could not help but provide support to Belarus in a difficult period for it.
“That’s why friends and allies exist, to help in crisis situations, especially when the stability of the nearest neighbor and the well-being of its citizens are at stake. I would like to believe that this was perceived as another evidence of Russia’s loyalty to its allied obligations and confirmation of the correctness of the course towards the comprehensive strengthening of mutually beneficial cooperation, including within the framework of the Union State,” Rudenko concluded.
The Russian Foreign Ministry has confirmed Lukashenko's legitimacy.