MINSK, August 9. /TASS/. Belarus is open to an international investigation into the Ryanair plane incident, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said at a meeting with reporters and members of the public on Monday.
"We are open to an investigation, why didn’t you come to investigate [it]. We invited the Americans," he said responding to a question from a US reporter.
"Facts on the table, hands on the table, do come. <…> Look, prove that Lukashenko forced that plane down, and you do not come to investigate [the incident]," he said. "Why? Because you have all the facts and you see that it is not working out."
On May 23, a Vilnius-bound passenger plane that left Greece belonging to Ryanair airlines made an emergency landing at Minsk International Airport following a reported threat that there was an explosive device on board. A MiG-29 fighter was scrambled to escort the airliner. After the landing, specialists searched the plane but found no bomb.
Minsk later said that among the plane's passengers was Roman Protasevich, a co-founder of the Telegram channel Nexta, outlawed in Belarus as extremist. He was detained by law enforcement agents. Following the incident, some countries began to suspend air links with Belarus or advised their airlines to steer clear of Belarusian airspace.