The politician emphasized that "as long as Belarus remains under the control of Russia, it will be an outpost of its aggressive projects, and this is unacceptable neither for us nor for the world."

"The time has come for a harsh response to Russia's hostile, colonizing actions against Belarus," said the leader of the democratic forces of Belarus.

Tsikhanovskaya

recalled the repressions in Belarus, which affected "women and men, children and the elderly, activists and journalists, doctors and athletes, human rights defenders and entrepreneurs."

She emphasized that "our goal is to free Belarus from tyranny and preserve its independence", but "Putin's Russia does not consider Belarus as an independent country, but as a vassal state".

"With

help , Russia has expanded its military presence and is taking over economic and financial control," the politician said.

Tsikhanovskaya again called for the creation of an international tribunal to consider "crimes against humanity, crimes of aggression and complicity in war crimes in Ukraine" committed by Lukashenka.

"Lukashenko deserves to sit next to

in the tribunal for the crime of aggression," she said.

The politician also reminded that all decisions made by official Minsk "have no force after the falsified elections of 2020."

According to Tsikhanovskaya, the international community should focus its efforts on "taking away space and resources from the regime" by increasing sanctions pressure: "US sanctions against Lukashenka's regime have shown their impact.

This leverage should be further strengthened by closing loopholes and improving coordination with the EU, UK and Canada."

Answering a question about the placement of Russian nuclear weapons on the territory of Belarus, Tsikhanovskaya said that this "contradicts the will of the Belarusian people and the Constitution of the country."

Tsikhanovskaya called on the West to "strongly react".

"Dictators only understand the language of force," she said and called for increased sanctions pressure.