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01Jun21

British top diplomat to criticize Russia at NATO summit — newspaper

British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab intends to present a report on Russia’s "bad behaviour" on Tuesday, according to the Daily Telegraph.

"The Foreign Secretary will list a series of UK objections to Russia’s recent actions, including military build-up near Ukraine’s border," the article said.

Additionally, at a NATO ministerial meeting on Tuesday, he intends to criticize Russia for designating key allies as "unfriendly countries" and limiting staff at the US and Czech Embassies.

The diplomat emphasized that "UK support for the transatlantic alliance is unwavering. We will work with Allies and partners to defend our allies and our values." He will also draw attention to the emergency landing of a Ryanair flight in Minsk.

On May 23, a Vilnius-bound Ryanair plane that took off from Athens made an emergency landing at Minsk International Airport after a reported bomb threat. A MiG-29 fighter jet alert crew was scrambled to escort the plane. After the landing, the plane was inspected and no bomb was found on board. The Belarusian Investigative Committee has opened a criminal case into a false bomb alert. Among the passengers on that flight was Roman Protasevich, one of the co-founders of the Nexta Telegram channel, which Minsk recognized as an extremist entity. Protasevich was detained by law enforcement agents once the plane had landed in the Belarusian capital. Russian national Sofia Sapega was also detained together with him. On Sunday evening, the plane left Minsk airport and continued on to Vilnius.

Following the incident with a Ryanair flight, EU leaders decided to block Belarusian airlines from landing at EU airports and flying over the EU’s territory, also advising European carriers to prohibit their airliners from flying into Belarusian airspace. A number of countries have already closed their airspace to the Belarusian air carrier, including the UK, France, Sweden, Latvia, Ukraine, the Czech Republic, Finland, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia.

[Source: Tass, Moscow, 01Jun21]
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