MOSCOW, June 23. /TASS/. Moscow was ready to provide any kind of assistance that Minsk needed for preventing a state coup in the republic, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in an interview with the national broadcaster of Belarus, aired on Thursday.

"Russia provided political and moral support immediately and was ready to provide any other type of assistance in preventing the state coup," he said.

On August 9, 2020, Belarus held presidential elections. According to the Central Electoral Commission, Alexander Lukashenko won the election. Immediately after the outcome was announced, mass protests engulfed Belarus, which initially led to clashes with the police. The West did not recognize the results of the presidential election. The EU introduced five sanctions packages against Belarusian officials and a number of companies.