MOSCOW, May 24. /TASS/: Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov has remained tight-lipped over the forced landing of a Ryanair flight in Minsk. He said the situation should be tackled by international civil aviation structures.
"Perhaps, I’ll have to say this right of the bat. I will not provide any comments on the Ryanair flight," he told journalists on Monday.
"There are certain international aviation regulations," he noted. "And the international aviation authorities here have to make some kind of assessment as to whether or not they are in conformity with these international norms. [So], I cannot comment on this situation."
He also did not comment on the Belarusian opposition’s allegations about "Russian agents" on board the Ryanair flight. "No, this is the last thing I want to comment on," Peskov said. "We have no information about who was on board, as they claim. No comments."
A Vilnius-bound Ryanair flight that took off from Athens was forced to make an emergency landing at Minsk International Airport on Sunday after a reported bomb threat. The plane landed safely and no bomb was found on board. Roman Protasevich, one of the co-founders of the Nexta Telegram channel, which was recognized as extremist in Belarus, was among the passengers. Protasevich, currently living in Lithuania and wanted in Belarus, was detained after the airliner had landed in the Belarusian capital. The plane left Minsk and continued on to Vilnius late on Sunday.
