White Maidan activists demanded that Putin immediately contact them
The Belarusian oppositionists are tired of mystifying about the mysterious negotiations that someone is conducting with them in Moscow, and now they accuse the Kremlin of cruelty and inattention.
The former director of one of the Minsk theaters, Pavel Latushko, who fled to Warsaw, burst out with claims against the Russian authorities in an interview with the Polish TV channel Belsat, a PolitNavigator correspondent reports.
“We must reconsider our further relations with the Russian Federation. The five months that we spent knocking on the doors of the Russian leadership did not yield results. We did not see any readiness on their part to talk with the Belarusian society and the Belarusian democratic opposition. It seems to me that this is the same thing that the Russian leadership has been doing over the past years in relation to all post-Soviet republics. This has never led to the normalization of relations both within these countries and in relations with the Russian Federation,” Latushko complained.
Then he began to accuse Russia of interfering in the internal affairs of Belarus, citing unexpected examples.
“We see that there are many examples of interference in the internal affairs of Belarus by our eastern partner. These examples are related to the military exercises that took place last year, this is the signing of an agreement between the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Belarus and the National Guard, this is the leadership of Russian propagandists, this is the provision of credit resources to the regime, and not to the Belarusian people. Claims are constantly made to the West and the United States that they are interfering in the internal affairs of Belarusians, but no examples are given. On the other hand, the eastern neighbor is taking concrete steps, sending its propagandists to our TV channels, and this is not considered interference in internal affairs,” said the oppositionist, ignoring the Polish journalist’s reminder that Russia and Belarus actually have a Union State.
“But this is not the most important thing. The main thing is that the Belarusian people still have not heard from the Russian authorities what the position of the Russian government is in relation to the facts of mass crimes, violence, repressions carried out by the Lukashenko regime. On the other hand, we hear rhetoric about the brotherhood and friendship of the Belarusian and Russian peoples,” Latushko returned to complaint mode.
According to him, a strong threat came from the Russian Federation in August last year, when Belomaidan began.
“Foreign policy threats were strong from the Russian Federation. We know that Russian generals came to Belarus in August. Military planes were landing quite actively, and Russian generals had influence on the actions that were taken then. The so-called advisers within the Union State,” says Latushko.
He then moved on to threats of Western sanctions.
“EU and US sanctions provide for the potential liability of Russian partners if they manage the assets of our enterprises and deprive our country of elements of state independence. This is an important tool for restraining the Russian authorities from taking negative steps towards Belarusian society,” the oppositionist threatened.
In the end, it turned out that he still wanted someone in the Kremlin to talk to him.
“We are ready to talk with the Russian Federation, but openly, through dialogue, when the Russian government understands that it is necessary to talk not with a legitimate dictator, but with the Belarusian society, which will never agree to be ruled by a person who has committed so many crimes,” – Latushko summarized.
He also expressed hope that the attitude towards Lukashenko in Moscow will change, and this will be the trigger for his departure from power.
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