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US denies involvement in plot against Lukashenko as 'absolutely untrue' - official

Commenting on reports about detention of lawyer Yuri Zenkovich, a holder of Belarusian and US passports, on suspicion of his involvement in the assassination plot, a US State Department official said that Washington would offer all necessary consular assistance to its national

WASHINGTON, April 18. /TASS/. The United States has nothing to do with any plots against Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko and any suggestion otherwise is "absolutely untrue," a US State Department official told TASS on Sunday.

"We have seen reports in Russian state media of a supposed plot against Alexander Lukashenko, as well as his direct claims to media. Any suggestion that the U.S. Government was behind or involved in an assassination attempt on Lukashenka is absolutely untrue," he said.

Commenting on reports about detention of lawyer Yuri Zenkovich, a holder of Belarusian and US passports, on suspicion of his involvement in the assassination plot, he said that Washington would offer all necessary consular assistance to its national. "We have seen reports of a U.S. citizen detained in Minsk. Whenever a U.S. citizen is detained overseas, we stand ready to provide all appropriate consular services," the official said.

The Public Relations Center of Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) reported earlier that FSB officers had detained two men, Yuri Zenkovich, who had Belarusian and US citizenship, and Belarusian national Alexander Feduta, suspected of plotting a military coup in Belarus and an assassination attack on President Alexander Lukashenko. According to the FSB, the men plotted a military coup in Belarus under a ‘color revolution’ scenario involving Ukrainian nationalists, and assassination of the Belarusian leader.