"Reasonable Approach": Russia Defends Belarus Over Flight Diversion

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov called on the global community to "soberly assess the situation".

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Monday defended a decision by Belarusian authorities to divert a Ryanair passenger flight carrying an opposition activist who was arrested. The flight from Athens to Vilnius was forced to land in the Belarus capital Minsk Sunday on the orders of strongman Alexander Lukashenko following a supposed bomb scare. One of the flight's passengers, wanted opposition activist Roman Protasevich, was detained in Minsk airport. Western leaders called the incident an "act of state terrorism" and the EU was expected Monday to toughen sanctions against Belarus.