Lithuanian seimas speaker: Isolating people of Belarus is Putin's victory

The isolation of the Belarusian people from the neighboring countries would be a victory for the regimes of Vladimir Putin and Aliaksandr Lukashenka, says Speaker of the Lithuanian Seimas Viktorija Čmilytė-Nielsen.

She admits that the presence of several thousand mercenaries of the PMC "Wagner" in Belarus frightens the neighboring countries and makes them toughen their attitude towards the Belarusian diaspora. But in her opinion, Lithuania should continue to support the Belarusian opposition, Delfi writes.

"It seems to me that this whole story with "Wagner", this Wagner propaganda -- an attempt to intimidate the neighbors. But one of the goals is to isolate the people of Belarus, freedom-loving people who are fleeing from Lukashenka's regime, and actually encourage the neighboring countries to cut themselves off from Belarus. I think it would be a great victory for Lukashenka and Putin at the same time if the neighboring countries would do that," the parliament speaker explained her position.

She stressed that a European democratic Belarus is "the vital interest of Lithuania."