Belarus leader visits Russia to secure support amid protests

MOSCOW (AP) — 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 neighbor 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 nation’s 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 signaled 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 moved to 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 dictator and not the Belarusian people,” she said Monday. “Any agreements signed with Lukashenko, who lacks legitimacy, will be retracted by the new government.”

The United Nations Human Rights Council plans to hold a special debate on Belarus on Friday. A number of EU countries and Australia stepped forward to denounce the worsening of the situation and back the motion, while Venezuela joined Belarus to criticize the planned debate.

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.”

“Re-establishing social peace in Belarus requires far-reaching dialogue, reforms, and accountability for grave human rights violations,” she said. All allegations of torture by the security forces should be documented and investigated, she added.

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Jamey Keaten in Geneva contributed to this report.