Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has said that the country’s opponents are trying to “destabilise” the political situation there.

Mr Lukashenko was speaking to Russian President Vladimir Putin following moves from nations including the UK, advising operators to avoid flying over Belarus.

That was in response to the forced diversion of a Ryanair flight under fighter jet escort to arrest opposition journalist Roman Protasevich.

The diversion, which forced the plane to land in the Belarusian capital of Minsk, instead of its scheduled destination in Lithuania, was reported to have been on Mr Lukashenko’s orders and prompted international outrage.

During Friday’s meeting in the Russian city of Sochi, Mr Lukashenko also said he would give Mr Putin documents relating to the plane incident.

Putin noted that there had been no such outcry when a plane carrying Bolivia’s president was forced to land in the West in 2013.

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