MOSCOW, April 18. /TASS/. Decision of authorities of the Czech Republic to expel 18 Russian diplomats aims to distract attention from activities of an organized group plotting against Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, head of the Russian State Duma Committee on Foreign Affairs Leonid Slutsky said on YouTube channel Solovyev Live.
According to the lawmaker, "as soon as accusations directed towards the US president were voiced" then, "as if by command," the Czech authorities announced expulsion of the Russian diplomats.
"It is obvious that it was absolutely clearly staged. Belarusians attack the United States and we will distract [attention] both in the political and the information sphere and will attack Russia," the lawmaker said. According to him, European politicians, controlled by Washington, "will in every way pull the attention away from the situation in Belarus." "They haven’t even tried to come up at short notice with something new and intelligible," he said.
The lawmaker said that he was receiving phone calls from colleagues from the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe who were wondering about the situation.
"It is clear that the situation is induced by the far West. The answer will be adequate. It is necessary to respond to such things. And our answer will be immediate," he concluded.
Earlier, the Belarusian president had informed about detention of a group that was plotting an assassination attack on him and his children and purportedly had links to the US intelligence agencies, as the BelTA news agency wrote on its Telegram channel on Saturday.
Chief of the Belarusian State Security Committee (KGB) Ivan Tertel told ONT TV channel that an organized terrorist group intending to eliminate the Belarusian president and his family members as well as to organize a coup was intercepted.
Czech First Deputy Prime Minister and Interior Minister Jan Hamacek who is also acting Foreign Minister said at a press conference earlier that the Czech Republic was expelling 18 employees of the Russian embassy who allegedly were Russian intelligence officers according to the Czech special services. They should leave the country within 48 hours.