MOSCOW, 16 September (BelTA) – A Western trace can be clearly seen in events going on in Belarus, BelTA learned from a statement made by Director of Russia's Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) Sergei Naryshkin.
The official said: “A Western trace is clearly seen in events in Belarus. Protest actions have been very well organized since the beginning and have been coordinated from abroad.”
The official remarked that the West started preparations for protests in Belarus long before the presidential election happened. “According to the information SVR has, the USA plays the key role in today's events in Belarus. Although in the public space Washington tries to stay in the shadows, Americans increased the financing of Belarusian anti-government forces by several times after mass street protests began,” Sergei Naryshkin stated.
The official said: “In 2019 – early 2020 alone the USA channeled some $20 million via various NGOs into the organization of anti-government manifestations.”
In his words, the money was spent on setting up a network of independent bloggers and news accounts in social networks, on training activists for street protests. “The most promising ones were trained abroad, in particular, in Poland, Lithuania, and Ukraine where American instructors specializing in non-violent protests worked with them,” Sergei Naryshkin stated.
According to Sergei Naryshkin, the USA took under its wing the former presidential candidate Svetlana Tikhanovskaya and other opposition activists, who are being hyped as people's leaders. In contacts with European allies Washington insists it is necessary to step up pressure on Minsk in order to encourage the Belarusian government to launch a dialogue with the so-called Coordination Council, Sergei Naryshkin pointed out. It is actually a poorly disguised attempt to stage another color revolution and an anti-constitutional coup, which goals have nothing in common with interests of Belarusian citizens, he noted.
