Belarus

MINSK, March 7. /TASS/: Belarus plans to launch mass production of the Sputnik V anti-coronavirus vaccine on March 30-31. A pilot batch is being examined by experts in Russia, Belarusian Deputy Health Minister Dmitry Cherednichenko said on Sunday.

MINSK, March 2. /TASS/: Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko thinks that the merger of Belarus and Russia to create integrated governance bodies is unviable, the BelTA agency reported.

MINSK, February 11. /TASS/: Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has said that his country must remain a presidential republic.

"I stand for a constitutional reform. But I am certain that our country must remain a presidential republic," he told the All Belarusian People's Assembly on Thursday.

MINSK, February 11./TASS/: Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko on Thursday spoke out in favor of economic integration with Russia on equal conditions, noting that both countries would benefit from that.

MINSK, February 8. /TASS/: The united command of the regional force grouping of the Russia-Belarus Union State is holding a joint staff exercise in preparations for the Zapad-2021 (West-2021) strategic drills, the Belarusian Defense Ministry reported on Monday.

"On February 8-12, representatives of the armed forces of Belarus and Russia in the united command will practice measures at stationary command posts to use one of the options of employing the grouping of forces (troops) in an operation of the regional group of forces (troops)," the ministry said in a statement.

MINSK, January 29. /TASS/: Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko stated that in over a quarter of a century of his presidency, the government has not made any fundamental mistakes, BelTA agency informed on Friday.

"Yes, I am not a saint. It is impossible to have been working as president for more than a quarter of a century and not to have stumbled somewhere, not to have made mistakes. But you and I have not made fundamental mistakes," he said during a meeting with students, quoted by the BelTA agency.

MINSK, January 19. /TASS/: Relations between Belarus and Russia are developing fruitfully and constructively in various areas, Belarusian Prime Minister Roman Golovchenko said on Tuesday at a meeting with Russian Ambassador in Minsk Dmitry Mezentsev.

"The New Year has just begun. Last year, the Belarusian-Russian relations developed constructively and fruitfully. For the first time in many years, we entered the new year with resolved issues in the fuel and energy sector and reached all agreements," the Belarusian prime minister’s press service quotes him as saying.

MINSK, January 16. /TASS/: Maria Kolesnikova, a member of the Coordination Council of the Belarusian opposition, was remanded in custody after a hearing at the Minsk district court had rejected her complaint, former Belarusian presidential candidate Viktor Babariko’s Telegram channel reported on Saturday.

Under the Minsk district court ruling, Kolesnikova will remand in custody at Minsk’s pre-trial detention center No.1, where she was transferred to from the Zhodino pre-trial detention center on January 8. Earlier, the investigation extended Kolesnikova’s custody until March 8.

MINSK, January 6. /TASS/: Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has said that the question of his presidency can be decided only by means of elections, if some do not like to see him in the capacity of the head of state.

"I would like to see a calm and quiet country," Lukashenko told an audience while visiting the Gorizont plant in Minsk.

"You surely wish the same. If you dislike your current president, only elections can resolve this issue. Only elections. I insist on this, however strongly some may dislike this," the news agency BelTA quotes Lukashenko as saying.

MINSK, November 29. /TASS/: Belarusian law enforcement agencies detained 26 people during a protest dubbed "The March of Neighbors" on Sunday, human rights activists said.

The Vesna human rights center (unregistered by the authorities) published on its website a list of names of those detained. As of 14:40 Moscow Time it had 26 people, who were apprehended in Minsk and in its outskirts.

Among those detained is Dmitry Kruk, a member of the Economic Group of the opposition’s Coordination Council. The Council reported about his detention on its Telegram channel.