Russia Insists Belarus Should Swiftly Release Russian Detainees - Foreign Ministry

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 03rd August, 2020) Russia considers the recent detention of several Russians in neighboring Belarus groundless and insists on swift release, the Russian Foreign Ministry said Monday.

Earlier in the day, Deputy Foreign Minister Andrey Rudenko invited Belarusian Ambassador to Russia Vladimir Semashko to a discussion of the Russian-Belarussian ties, with particular focus on the recent detention of 33 Russian citizens.

"The Russian side said that the detention of the Russian citizens, carried out under a groundless and made-up pretext, goes against the spirit of the brotherly alliance of the two countries, the two peoples," the ministry said in a press release about the meeting.

"We insist our colleagues in Belarus carry out an impartial probe, in close cooperation with Russia, into all the aspects of these events and release the detained Russian citizens soon," the ministry said.