Belarusian Opposition Leader in Washington to Meet With US Officials
Voice of America
In an interview Sunday with Voice of America, Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, the leader of the Belarusian opposition, said she came to Washington at the invitation of the U.S. State Department for a series of meetings with high-ranking U.S. government officials. She said her focus would be on the worsening human rights situation in Belarus as well as the escalation of violence by the regime of President Alexander Lukashenko.
She would not confirm whether she would be meeting with U.S. President Joe Biden. Since the August 2020 Belarusian presidential elections, Tsikhanouskaya, 38, a candidate, was forced to flee to neighboring Lithuanian where she lives with her children. Her husband, who she communicates with in letters, has been in prison for 14 months on charges of violating public order, inciting hatred and plotting mass disturbance, charges he denies. Tsikhanouskaya’s discussion with VOA has been edited for clarity.Palestinians gather at the site of an Israeli strike on a camp for internally displaced people in Rafah on May 27, 2024. Fire rages following an Israeli strike on an area designated for displaced Palestinians, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, in this still picture taken from a video, May 26, 2024. Palestinians gather at the site of an Israeli strike on a camp for internally displaced people in Rafah on May 27, 2024. A member of the bomb squad of the Israeli police collects debris after a rocket fired by Palestinian militants struck in the Israeli city of Herzliya on May 26, 2024.