Niinistö holds telephone conversations with Putin, Merkel on Belarus

President Sauli Niinistö on Friday held separate telephone conversations with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin and German Chancellor Angela Merkel and discussed the present situation in Belarus following the controversial 9 August presidential elections.

The Presidents of Finland and Russia discussed opportunities to settle the tense situation in Belarus, said a press release of Finnish President Office.

The case of Alexei Navalny and the question of organising his health care was also addressed.

In another phone call Niinistö held discussion with German Chancellor Angela Merkel on the situation of Belarus.

They discussed detailed both on the prevailing situation in Belarus and on the Alexei Navalny case.

News agency Xinhua, quoting Kremlin adds: "When discussing developments in Belarus, Vladimir Putin reaffirmed Russia's well-known position, emphasizing, in particular, that meddling in the internal affairs of a sovereign state and attempting to exert external pressure on the legitimate authorities are unacceptable," Kremlin said in a statement.

"Both sides expressed interest in seeing the situation in the republic return to normal as soon as possible," it added.

Belarus has been witnessing mass protests after incumbent President Alexander Lukashenko won a sixth term in the Aug. 9 elections, with the opposition refusing to recognize the results.

According to the statement, certain current issues of Russian-Finnish relations were also discussed.