Grigory Ioffe writes: On July 28, United States President Joseph Biden held a 15-minute face-to-face talk with Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, who many in the West consider to be the leader of Belarusian opposition. The opposition-minded media outlets and social networks conveyed a sense of triumph. Indeed, since the August 2020 elections, Tikhanovskaya has met with 31 presidents and prime ministers, whereas President Alyaksandr Lukashenka sat down with only 4 world leaders since his own reelection (Pikabu, July 29). “That this meeting will take place was kept in secrecy until the last moment,” Franak Viachorka, Tikhanovskaya’s principal advisor, wrote jubilantly. She “was greeted at the White House as a national leader… From the Willard Hotel, where the presidents usually stay […] Tikhanovskaya was accompanied by members of the diplomatic security service” (Svaboda.org, July 28)
go to Jamestown Foundation: The Diplomatic Triumph of Svetlana Tikhanovskaya and the Fate of the Belarusian Opposition – Jamestown
