President of Belarus accuses Russia of lying, warns of revolution plot

Moscow has said Minsk wrongfully arrested a group of alleged Russian mercenaries last week, ahead of an election in Belarus on Aug. 9, seen as Lukashenko's biggest challenge in years. Russia has said the detained men were only transiting via Belarus en route to a third country and had no plans to try to influence Belarusian domestic politics.

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko on Tuesday accused Russia of lying over an alleged mercenary plot to destabilise his country and said unnamed forces were trying to carry out a revolution in Belarus but would fail. Moscow has said Minsk wrongfully arrested a group of alleged Russian mercenaries last week, ahead of an election in Belarus on Aug. 9, seen as Lukashenko's biggest challenge in years.

Russia has said the detained men were only transiting via Belarus en route to a third country and had no plans to try to influence Belarusian domestic politics. Lukashenko called those assertions "a lie" and called on Moscow to stop lying, saying the detained men had confessed to everything and that they had been given the order to enter Belarus and wait for further orders.