Council Meeting On Belarus Follows Putin's Talks With EU Leaders

The European Council will hold an extraordinary meeting via videolink at 1200CET (1100BST, 0600ET) today to discuss the ongoing mass protests in Belarus following the August 9 presidential election.

• The meeting follows a flurry of telephone conversations yesterday between EU leaders and Russian President Vladimir Putin, with French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, and European Council President Charles Michel all talking to the Russian leader.
• All sides sought to emphasise that there should be no 'foreign interference' in Belarusian politics.
• The EU has called for the Belarusian gov't to avoid violent crackdowns on protesters, while some member state gov'ts have been more strident in directly calling out the Lukashenko regime or advocating the introduction of sanctions.
• Significant geopolitical focus in Europe on Belarus at present, with EU capitals watching for signs of whether the Kremlin will seek to prop up incumbent President Alexander Lukashenko or allow the protests calling for his ouster to continue to gain momentum.