The US government strongly condemns the grounding of a Ryanair flight through Belarus and the arrest of journalist and opposition member Roman Protacevic who was on board the flight. The United States is calling for an early meeting of an international civil aviation group to address this issue.
US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken called for Protasevich’s immediate release, saying this “shocking act by the Lukashenko regime put the lives of more than 120 passengers, including US citizens” at risk.
In a statement, Blinken said the United States supports “a meeting as soon as possible of the ICAO Council to review these events.”
Earlier, the European Union and NATO strongly condemned the Belarusian action, which was allegedly ordered personally by Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko. European Union leaders will discuss the situation on Monday. Talks will also be held on possible sanctions against Belarus.
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