Belarusian opposition leader Svyatlana Zihanusskaya called on the United States to provide more help on Monday (July 19) because she began visiting Washington this week to meet with senior officials in the Biden administration.
Since 1994, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has tightly controlled Belarus and suppressed street protests that began during the presidential election in August last year. His opponents said these protests were meant to preserve power. While being manipulated.
38-year-old Tsikhanouskaya is the candidate for the election, not her husband Sergei Tsikhanouskiy, a video blogger who has been in jail for violating public order and other crimes since May 2020. He denied the charge. After Lukashenko’s suppression, Qihanusskaya fled to neighboring Lithuania.
The US State Department said in a statement that she met with Secretary of State Anthony Brinken, Deputy Secretary of State for Political Affairs Victoria Newland, and State Department Counselor Derek Jolay.
It said they discussed the need for the Lukashenko government to “end the repression, unconditionally release all political prisoners in Belarus, and conduct inclusive political dialogue and new presidential elections under international observation.”
A senior government official said that Qihanusskaya also plans to meet with senior White House officials this week.
She told CNN that more help from the United States and the European Union is needed.
“The United States has a moral obligation to be with us. I ask the United States to help civil society survive,” she said. “Stand with Belarus.”
The senior government official stated that the United States “stands with” Qihanusskaya and the people of Belarus and “will continue to support their democratic aspirations.”
