MOSCOW, November 13. /TASS/. What binds Moscow and Minsk is more than just friendship, it is kinship ties, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in an interview with RT.
"It’s not friendship, it is kinship ties," he said, describing relations between Russia and Belarus.
In response to the question if he considered Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko to be one of his kin, Peskov answered in the affirmative. "It’s because he is Belarusian," he explained, adding: "Some of my distant relatives are from Belarus."
"It is not Alexander Lukashenko that we support but the legitimate leader of a brotherly nation," the Russian presidential spokesman stressed. He pointed out that "indeed, for more than ten years, Russia and the Russian president supported and indirectly subsidized the Belarusian economy." "The reason is that we are closest allies and our people are closely related, so we do hold each other dear," Peskov explained.
When asked whether Moscow should support Lukashenko at the moment given that the Russian people could disapprove of that, the Kremlin spokesman said: "All people are different, they can have different views, but the fundamental approach should be based on legitimacy stemming from international law."
According to Peskov, "countries are free to refuse to recognize the elections [in Belarus] but according to international law, no country has the right to declare the election legitimate or illegitimate." "Neither the European Union, nor Germany, nor France, nor Poland nor anyone else has such power," Peskov emphasized.
Contacts with Belarusian opposition
The Kremlin’s stance regarding contacts with the Belarusian opposition has remained unchanged, the presidential spokesman said, when asked if the very instance of a meeting between Russia’s ambassador to the United Nations, Vasily Nebenzya and ex-candidate for the Belarusian presidency, Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, on the sidelines of an event was a sign Moscow would establish contacts with the Belarusian opposition.
"The [Kremlin’s] position has not changed absolutely," Peskov said.
He explained that Nebenzya did not meet with Tikhanovskaya one on one. "Our ambassador acts together with his colleagues. Various events are held there. If such people as Tikhanovskaya participate in them, too, he takes part in such events within the framework of that activity. It was not a personal meeting. There is nothing new in this sense," Peskov said, adding that the incident was in no way connected with the lack of contacts between Moscow and the Belarusian opposition.
Nationwide demonstrations have engulfed Belarus following the August 9 presidential election. According to the Central Election Commission’s official results, incumbent President Alexander Lukashenko won by a landslide, garnering 80.10% of the vote. His closest rival in the race, Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, came in second, with 10.12% of the ballot. However, she refused to recognize the election’s outcome, and left Belarus for Lithuania. After the results of the exit polls were announced late on August 9, mass protests erupted in downtown Minsk and other Belarusian cities. During the early post-election period, the rallies snowballed into fierce clashes between the protesters and police. The current unrest is being cheered on by the opposition’s Coordination Council, which has been beating the drum for more protests. In response, the Belarusian authorities have castigated the ongoing turmoil and demanded that these unauthorized demonstrations be stopped.