FILE - In this file photo taken from video released by Belarusian state-controlled ONT Channel on June 3, 2021, dissident journalist Raman Pratasevich reacts during an interview with Belarusian ONT Channel in Minsk, Belarus. Pratasevich was arrested after his flight from Greece to Lithuania was diverted to Minsk by Belarusian authorities in what Western countries denounced as air piracy. (ONT channel via AP, File)
FILE - Protesters carry a wounded man during clashes with police after an election in Minsk, Belarus, on Aug. 10, 2020, in which President Alexander Lukashenko won a sixth term. The vote was denounced as fraudulent at home and abroad. The authoritarian leader this week marks 30 years in power as president. (AP Photo, File)
FILE - A Belarusian honor guard carries a national flag during an official ceremony in Minsk, Belarus, on May 14, 2006. The authoritarian leader this week marks 30 years in power as president. (AP Photo, File)
FILE - Ales Bialiatski, the head of Belarusian Viasna rights group, stands in a defendants' cage in court in Minsk, Belarus, on Nov. 2, 2011. President Alexander Lukashenko had ordered the release of several political prisoners with serious illnesses, but about 1,400 remain behind bars, including Bialiatski, a Nobel Peace Prize-winning human rights activist.(AP Photo, File)
FILE - Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko walks to cast his ballot during the presidential election in Minsk, Belarus, on Aug. 9, 2020, during which he won a sixth term. The vote was denounced as fraudulent at home and abroad, with key opposition figures prevented from running. The authoritarian leader this week marks 30 years in power as president. (AP Photo, File)
FILE - Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, second left, welcomes Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, then-Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, second right, and then-EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, during a meeting in Minsk, Belarus, on Aug. 26, 2014. The authoritarian Lukashenko this week marks 30 years in power as president. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko, File)
FILE - Opposition demonstrators with traditional red-and-white national flags rally in Minsk, on Oct. 19, 1996, to protest Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko's planned referendum expanding his powers. The authoritarian leader this week marks 30 years in power. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky, File)
FILE - Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko gestures prior to a news conference in the capital of Minsk, Belarus, on Monday, Dec. 20, 2010, after being reelected to a fourth term. The authoritarian leader this week marks 30 years in power as president. (AP Photo, File)
FILE - Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko emerges from a polling booth after marking his ballot in a national referendum in Minsk, Belarus, on Nov. 24, 1996. The authoritarian leader this week marks 30 years in power as president. (AP Photo, File)
FILE - Riot police clash with demonstrators trying to storm the government building after a presidential election in the Belarusian capital, Minsk, Sunday, Dec. 19, 2010, after President Alexander Lukashenko is reelected to a fourth term. The authoritarian leader this week marks 30 years in power as president. (AP Photo, File)
FILE - Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko gestures while speaking at an election rally in the Republic Palace in Minsk, Belarus, on Sept. 4, 2001, before winning a second term. The authoritarian leader this week marks 30 years in power as president. (AP Photo, File)
FILE - Demonstrators carry a huge historical flag of Belarus as thousands gather for a demonstration against President Alexander Lukashenko at Independence Square in central Minsk, Belarus, on Aug. 23, 2020. The authoritarian leader this week marks 30 years in power as president. (AP Photo, File)
FILE - In this photo taken from video released by the Russian Defense Ministry Press Service on April 14, 2023, a Belarusian air force pilot speaks at an unidentified location. Russia says it has deployed tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus, raising fears they could be used in Ukraine. (Russian Defense Ministry Press rvice via AP, File)
FILE - In this image from video provided by the Belarusian Defense Ministry via VoenTV on July 14, 2023, Belarusian soldiers attend a training by mercenary fighters of the Wagner private military company who relocated from Russia to a location near Tsel, a village, about 90 kilometers (about 55 miles) southeast of Minsk, Belarus. Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko played a key role in negotiating an end to a brief uprising against the Russian Defense Ministry leadership by Yevgeny Prigozhin, head of the Wagner mercenary group. Belarus allows the mercenaries to relocate to Belarus in camps there. (Belarusian Defense Ministry via VoenTV via AP, File)
FILE – Russian President Boris Yeltsin and Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko shake hands after signing a union charter at the Kremlin in Moscow, on May 23, 1997. Lukashenko this week marks 30 years in power. (Vladimir Mashatin/Pool Photo via AP, File)
FILE - Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko takes the oath of office for a third term by placing his hand on the country’s constitution during his inauguration at the Palace of the Republic in Minsk, Belarus, on April 8, 2006. The authoritarian leader this week marks 30 years in power as president. (Nikolai Petrov, BelTA via AP, File)
FILE - Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko attends a meeting of the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council of the Eurasian Economic Union at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, on May 8, 2024. The authoritarian leader this week marks 30 years in power as president. (Evgenia Novozhenina/Pool Photo via AP, File)
FILE - Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko delivers a speech at the Palace of the Independence in Minsk, Belarus, Wednesday, Sept. 23, 2020, where he is inaugurated for a sixth term. The authoritarian leader this week marks 30 years in power as president. (Maxim Guchek, BelTA/Pool Photo via AP)