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Russia pledges to defend Belarus if EU sanctions it
By EUobserver
Russia will defend Belarus and help it if the European Union imposes economic sanctions on Minsk over the grounding of a plane and arrest of a dissident blogger, the RIA news agency cited a Russian foreign ministry official as saying, Reuters reports. Many European nations have imposed flight bans on Belarusian aviation over the forced landing of a Ryanair flight on May 23. The EU is weighing further sanctions.