MADRID, May 31. /TASS/. The European Union is worried that Russia may use the soured ties between the EU and Belarus to bolster its influence and plans to offer Moscow a way to establish "mutual political understand and economic cooperation." The El Pais newspaper reported on Monday, citing sources, that a number of measures by Brussels are being hammered out in the run-up to the forthcoming EU summit at the end of June regarding last week’s Ryanair flight incident. 

The article asserts that this plan is aimed at overcoming the differences between the EU and Russia. At the same time, according to the newspaper’s sources, the alternative to the "beginning of the reconciliation would be an escalation of tensions and a sanctions spiral which may" damage Russia’s economy. There are no other details of the proposal that the EU allegedly wants to offer Russia.

On May 23, a Vilnius-bound Ryanair plane that took off from Athens made an emergency landing at Minsk International Airport after a reported bomb threat. A MiG-29 fighter jet alert crew was scrambled to escort the plane. After the landing, the plane was inspected, and no bomb was found on board. The Belarusian Investigative Committee has opened a criminal case into a false bomb alert. Among the passengers on that flight was Roman Protasevich, one of the co-founders of the Nexta Telegram channel, which Minsk recognized as an extremist entity. Protasevich was detained by law enforcement agents once the plane had landed in the Belarusian capital. Russian national Sofia Sapega was also detained together with him. On Sunday evening, the plane left Minsk airport and continued on to Vilnius.

Following the incident with a Ryanair flight, EU leaders decided to block Belarusian airlines from landing at EU airports and flying over the EU’s territory, also advising European carriers to prohibit their airliners from flying into Belarusian airspace.

Earlier, Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin stated that Russia supported Belarus’ stance on the necessity of an open international investigation into the situation around the Ryanair flight, emphasizing that the incident should not be politicized.