US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said that the Emergency Planting of the Ryanair aircraft in Minsk has puts more than 120 passengers at risk of life, including Americans. This reports Politico.
Blinken noted that Washington strongly condemns the forced redirection of the flight between the two countries of the European Union (EU) and the subsequent detention of the creator of the Telegram channel NEXTA Roman Protasevich. The United States demands an immediate liberation of Protasevich, he stressed.
American diplomat also said that Washington supports the speedy meeting of the Council of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), given the information about the forced landing under probably false pretexts.
On May 23, the airline Ryanair, who followed the route Athena-Vilnius, made an emergency landing in Minsk after mining reports. On board the creator of the Telegram channel NEXTA was detained. The head of the European Commission (EC) Ursula von der Layen called this incident unacceptable. Lithuanian President Gitanas Bested demanded to release Protasevich and called on NATO and the EU allies immediately respond to the “threat of international civil aviation on the part of the Belarusian regime.”