Defiant Belarus leader shrugs off sanctions, says athlete was 'manipulated'


  • World
  • Monday, 09 Aug 2021

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko holds a news conference in Minsk, Belarus August 9, 2021. Pavel Orlovsky/BelTA/Handout via REUTERS

KYIV/LONDON/WASHINGTON (Reuters) -A defiant President Alexander Lukashenko said on Monday a Belarusian sprinter defected at the Olympic Games only because she had been "manipulated" by outside forces and shrugged off a coordinated barrage of new Western sanctions.

At an hours-long news conference on the anniversary of an election which opponents said was rigged so that he could win, Lukashenko denied being a dictator and said he had defended Belarus against opponents plotting a coup.

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