Phone call intercepted proving that info on Navalny poisoning fake - Lukashenko
MINSK. Sept 3 (Interfax) - Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has said he has no doubt that information about the poisoning of Russian opposition activist Alexei Navalny is false.
"We intercepted an interesting phone call, (I'll let you read it, and we will prepare and send the text to the FSB [Russia's Federal Security Service]) which unequivocally proves it's a fake. Navalny wasn't poisoned," the Belarusian state-run news agency BelTA quoted Lukashenko as saying at a meeting with Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin in Minsk on Thursday.
Lukashenko said the call was intercepted yesterday.
"We intercepted the call yesterday or the day before yesterday, I don't remember exactly, before [German Federal Chancellor Angela] Merkel made her statement (she said somebody wanted to silence him, Navalny). As we understand, Warsaw was speaking with Berlin. There were two interlocutors," Lukashenko said.
The call was intercepted by Belarusian military radio-electronic intelligence, he said.
"Considering the deployment of forces in that area [on the western border of Belarus], of course, we're engaged in radio warfare with NATO," Lukashenko said.
The president assumes that a group of specialists prepared facts for Merkel and her administration or, maybe, the statement made by Merkel. "They did that, I quote, 'in order to throw cold water on [Russian President Vladimir] Putin and discourage him from interfering in Belarusian affairs.' I am quoting from that call. You understand how Jesuitical these people are," Lukashenko said.
"So, I believe that [Alexander] Bortnikov and [Sergei] Naryshkin [heads of Russian security services] should seriously look into this situation. We'll hand over the audio recording and the text. All the materials will be supplied to your security services today or tomorrow so that they can figure out who needs it," he said.
"Especially as elections are coming, election day in the Russian regions. This means they're aware of the Russian elections and want to pull their dirty tricks before the elections. We believe they may think of something else. That's their style. This is their true face," Lukashenko said.