MOSCOW, April 21. /TASS/. The Western countries ignore the facts proving preparations for a government coup in Belarus and plans for an assassination of the country’s leader Alexander Lukashenko, Russian President Vladimir Putin said in the annual State of the Nation Address to the Federal Assembly on Wednesday.

He stressed that lately politically motivated unlawful sanctions and attempts by some countries to dictate their will to others became commonplace.

"These days such practice is being transformed into something more dangerous. I am referring to the just-discovered evidence of preparations for a government coup in Belarus and assassination of that country’s president. It is noteworthy that even such outrageous actions draw no criticism or condemnation from the so-called collective West. Everybody prefers to turn a blind eye to this. All pretend nothing is happening," Putin said.

"What would have happened, had the coup attempt in Belarus taken place for real? How many people would have suffered from it? What would have been Belarus’ fate? No one cares about it, just like no one cared about Ukraine’s future when a state coup was staged in the country," the Russian leader concluded.

Putin has castigated coup schemes and assassination plots against top officials as in the case of Lukahsenko as "way out of line" in his State of the Nation Address to the Federal Assembly on Wednesday.

"Attitudes may differ towards [former] Ukrainian President [Viktor] Yanukovich or Venezuela’s [President Nikolas] Maduro. I repeat, attitudes may differ towards Yanukovich, for instance, who was nearly killed and ousted in an armed coup. Viewpoints can differ on Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko’s policy, but the use of coups or plots to commit politically-motivated killings, particularly to assassinate high-ranking officials, is beyond excessive. It is way out of line," Putin emphasized.

On April 17, Lukashenko announced the detention of a group of people plotting to assassinate himself and his children. According to him, the plot involved US intelligence agencies. Chairman of the Belarusian State Security Committee (KGB) Ivan Tertel said that the group’s members had embared on a plan to murder Lukashenko and his family members and stage an armed rebellion in order to seize power.