Tikhanovskaya voiced the only demand for Putin

She has only one demand for the Russian president: the leader of the Belarusian opposition would like to ask the president “to leave Belarus alone and let them decide their future”.

“I would like to talk to Putin. We have always stated that we are not against Russia, yes, I believe that Russia understands this as well. But the essence of our negotiations is not that “you remove Lukashenko, we give you the country”. The essence of our meeting would be a request to Russia not to interfere in the internal affairs of Belarus, so that the country would give us the opportunity to decide our future itself”, - she said in an interview with the Belarusian portal tut.by.

Tikhanovskaya added that Belarus will not go anywhere from Russia, the Belarusian opposition is not planning to build a wall between our states.

Earlier, Tikhanovskaya met with the leaders and foreign ministers of European countries, in particular with French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Slovak President Zuzana Chaputova, as well as with the Foreign Ministers of Bulgaria, Austria and Greece. Last week, Russian presidential press secretary Dmitry Peskov said Putin had no intention of meeting with Tikhanovskaya.

In an interview with the publication, Tihanovskaya also added that Lukashenko, purely in her personal opinion, should be included in the sanctions list. Tikhanovskaya believes that this will not interfere with further communication with the current president, but he must be held accountable for the violence and falsification of the voting results.

The Belarusian opposition has only one strategy to achieve a change of power in the country, added Tikhanovskaya, - only through pressure. Any other decision, according to Tikhanovskaya, will only worsen the situation in the country.

“Everyone in Europe admires what is happening now in Belarus: Belarusian women, grandmothers, courtyard initiatives. But we would like them not only to be admired, but to be bolder in their actions”, - said Tikhanovskaya, noting that this is the only way the country will be able to get out of the current crisis. According to her, now the attention of the European Union is beginning to shift to Kyrgyzstan, where unrest has also erupted after the parliamentary elections.

The Belarusian opposition does not intend to create a separate government in exile. According to Tikhanovskaya, now it will be more effective to organize individual communities: students, athletes, media within the country. Only in this way, according to Tikhanovskaya, it will be possible to resist the system.

None of the representatives of the Belarusian opposition who left the country are planning to return home in the near future. Tikhanovskaya added that if they return, they will be immediately arrested. Tikhanovskaya herself learned about the criminal case initiated against her from journalists, so until a dialogue with the current government is established, the path to her homeland is closed, the former presidential candidate believes. In the meantime, Tikhanovskaya plans to further defend the country's interests in the international arena, she added.