Russia denies opinion ​on Ryanair flight landing in Minsk

By Elena Teslova

MOSCOW (AA) - The Kremlin spokesman on Monday refused to either support or condemn the landing of Ryanair’s flight in Belarus.

Speaking at a phone conference in Moscow, Dmitry Peskov said the situation has to be examined in accordance with the existing international rules of aviation.

"There are international aviation regulations. And the international aviation authorities should give an assessment in terms of compliance or non-compliance with these international standards.

"For now, there is a need for a sober assessment of the incident with this plane. In this case, there are a lot of contradictory statements, and we would not like to participate in this race, to condemn or support something. I repeat once again, I refrain from making any comments," he said.

On Sunday, a Belarusian MIG-29 fighter jet escorted a Ryanair Boeing 737-8AS flight from Greece's capital Athens to Vilnius, Lithuania's capital, forcing it to land in Minsk due to a bomb threat, and Roman Protasevich, a journalist wanted for his involvement in "terrorism incidents," was reportedly detained.

After that, the plane finally landed in the Lithuanian capital over seven hours after its planned arrival.

Protasevich is the founder of the social media news channel NEXTA, which reportedly played a major role in protests last summer in Belarus’ capital Minsk demanding the resignation of President Alexander Lukashenko after he was awarded a sixth term in a presidential election that was criticized for being rigged.