Belarus leader visits Russia to secure support amid protests

MOSCOW -- Belarus' authoritarian president visited Russia Monday in a bid to secure more loans and political support, as demonstrations against the extension of his 26-year rule entered their sixth week.

Alexander Lukashenko's talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin in the Black Sea resort of Sochi come a day after an estimated 150,000 people flooded the streets of the Belarusian capital, demanding Lukashenko's resignation. The Interior Ministry said 774 people were arrested in Minsk and other cities of Belarus for holding unsanctioned rallies on Sunday.

Protesters in Belarus have dismissed Lukashenko's reelection for a sixth term in the Aug. 9 vote as rigged. The United States and the European Union have criticized the election as neither free nor fair and urged the Belarusian leader to engage in talks with the opposition, a demand he rejected.

In a bid to win Moscow's support, the 66-year-old former state farm director has tried to cast the protests as an effort by the West to isolate Russia, which sees the neighbour as a key bulwark against NATO and a major conduit for energy exports to Europe.

Russia and Belarus have a union treaty envisaging close political, economic and military ties, but they have often engaged in acrimonious disputes. Before the election, Lukashenko repeatedly accused the Kremlin of pressing Belarus to abandon its independence.

But with the United States and the European Union criticizing the election and readying a package of sanctions, Lukashenko now has to rely squarely on Russia's support.

Despite frictions in the past, the Kremlin abhors the prospect of public protests forcing the resignation of the Belarusian leader, fearing it could embolden Putin's critics at home.

Putin quickly congratulated Lukashenko on his re-election and promised to send Russian police to Belarus if protests there turn violent, noting that there is no need for that yet.

Moscow has also signalled it's ready to discuss the restructuring of Belarus' $1 billion debt to Russia, a key issue in Monday's talks between Putin and Lukashenko.

Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, the main opposition challenger who left for Lithuania a day after the vote, under pressure from the authorities, warned Putin that any agreements he may reach with Lukashenko will not stand.

"I'm very sorry that you have opted to have a dialogue with the usurper and not the Belarusian people," she said Monday. "Any agreements signed with Lukashenko, who lacks legitimacy, will be retracted by the new government."

Pavel Latushko, a former culture minister and ambassador to France who was forced to leave Belarus after joining the opposition's Coordination Council, warned that while the Kremlin is standing by Lukashenko now it may move later to engineer his departure.

"Lukashenko discredits himself each day, and when he completely loses his authority it would be easier for Moscow to replace him," Latushko told The Associated Press in a telephone interview from Poland. "The Kremlin already has made a decision and is moving to fulfil a careful plan to have Lukashenko removed."

Alexander Klaskousky, an independent Minsk-based analyst, noted that the Kremlin realizes that a push for deeper integration between the two countries makes no sense now because of Lukashenko's precarious position.

Klaskousky predicted that the Kremlin might prod Lukashenko to de-escalate the crackdown on protests and engage in political manoeuvring to ease tensions, while looking behind the scenes for a candidate to replace him.

"Massive protests aren't abating, and the barbed wire, water cannons and hundreds of detainees underline Lukashenko's pitiful condition, forcing the Kremlin to start looking for an alternative," Klaskousky said. "Putin would hardly want to put all eggs in one basket."

As Belarusian authorities continued to target the opposition with pressure and arrests, the United Nations Human Rights Council agreed to hold an "urgent debate" on Belarus on Friday. Western and Latin American countries supported the motion, while Venezuela and the Philippines sided with Belarus. African nations mostly abstained.

In a speech on Monday, U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet voiced concern over reports from Belarus indicating "unnecessary or excessive use of force by law enforcement officials, thousands of arrests, many of them apparently arbitrary and hundreds of allegations of torture or ill-treatment, including against children, with some reports indicating sexual violence." She emphasized that all allegations of torture by the security forces should be documented and investigated.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel's spokesman, Steffen Seibert, strongly urged the Belarusian authorities to stop using force against demonstrators, release all political prisoners and start a dialogue with the opposition.

"Unfortunately, every day brings new evidence that Lukashenko's rule is supposed to be preserved with fear and repression," he said.

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Yuras Karmanau in Kyiv, Ukraine, Jamey Keaten in Geneva and Geir Moulson in Berlin contributed to this report