In an interview today with Russia-24 TV channel’s “News on Saturday,” Russian President Vladimir Putin was asked about contingency plans should the situation in Belarus get out of control. “Aleksandr Grigorievich [Lukashenko] asked me to form a certain reserve of law enforcement officers. And I did it. But we also agreed that it would not be used until the situation gets out of control,” Putin said. “We proceed from the premise that all the existing problems that are taking place in Belarus today will be resolved peacefully.”
“The point is not about what is happening in Belarus now, but the point is that someone wants something else to happen there. They want to influence these processes and achieve some decisions that correspond to how these people think, their political interests,” Putin said. “If we are to be objective, I believe that the Belarusian law enforcement agencies are exercising commendable self-control despite everything. Just take a look at what is happening in some other countries…. In my opinion, we are much more restrained and neutral in relation to the events in Belarus than many other countries, the Europeans and Americans. We proceed from the assumption that all the participants in this will have enough common sense to calmly find a way out without extremes. Of course, if people went out into the streets, we must reckon with it, hear it, and react, ” Putin said.
