Lavrov speaks about air base in Belarus, Minsk prepares street rally

On September 23, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov spoke on the creation of the Russian air base in Belarus. As was reported by RIA Novosti, answering a reporter's question, he said very diplomatically: "We have with Belarus, I repeat, a very close cooperation on all issues, including security issues."

Euroradio reported that a few days ago, Russian President Vladimir Putin issued an instruction to sign an agreement on the creation of an air base in Belarus. He instructed the Russian Defense Ministry and the Foreign Ministry to hold talks with Minsk on this issue.

Representatives of a number of Belarusian opposition parties and civil society organizations are planning to hold on October 4 a meeting against the deployment of the Russian military base in our country. They believe that this move "may result in the loss of independence of Belarus." The statement "For Belarus without foreign military bases" notes that the emergence of the foreign military bases in Belarus is "a betrayal of our national interests", Radio Liberty reports..

The document was signed by Uladzimir Nyaklyayeu, Mikalai Statkevich, Anatol Lyabedzka, Aliaksei Yanukevich, Yury Hubarevich, Viachaslau Siuchyk and Vaclau Areshka.    

Photos: ria.ru, svaboda.org