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US and EU will hold Lukashenko regime accountable, Sullivan tells Tikhanovskaya

US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan "strongly condemned the brazen and dangerous grounding of a Ryanair flight between two EU member states on May 23 and the subsequent removal and detention of journalist Roman Protasevich"

MOSCOW, May 25. /TASS/. US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan discussed the situation with the grounding of a Ryanair flight in Minsk with former Belarusian presidential candidate Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, the White House said in a statement.

Sullivan "strongly condemned the brazen and dangerous grounding of a Ryanair flight between two EU member states on May 23 and the subsequent removal and detention of journalist Roman Protasevich." He called for the immediate release of Protasevich, stressing that "the United States, in coordination with the EU and other allies and partners, will hold the Lukashenko regime to account."

A Vilnius-bound Ryanair flight that took off from Athens was forced to make an emergency landing at Minsk International Airport on May 23 after a reported bomb threat. The plane landed safely and no bomb was found on board. Roman Protasevich, one of the co-founders of the Nexta Telegram channel, which was recognized as extremist in Belarus, was among the passengers. Protasevich, currently living in Lithuania and wanted in Belarus, was detained after the airliner had landed in the Belarusian capital. The plane left Minsk and continued on to Vilnius later that day.