Dominic Raab tells airlines to avoid Belarus airspace after journalist arrested on Ryanair jet

The UK is preparing to impose sanctions against the dictatorial regime in Belarus over its seizure of an opposition journalist, with all possible measures on the table, Dominic Raab, the foreign secretary, has said. The European Union is planning to follow suit and has banned Belarusian airlines from its airspace.

Mr Raab had already slapped a ban on the former Soviet state’s national airline Belavia and instructed UK flights to avoid Belarus airspace, after a Ryanair jet was forced to land on Sunday in its capital Minsk. Roman Protasevich, 26, was subsequently taken from the aircraft and detained.

But the UK government was urged to go further, with MPs calling for the suspension of oil pipelines running through the country and a block on Belarus raising finance in the City of London. Leading Russian dissident Mikhail Khodorkovsky called on European nations to punish President Alexander Lukashenko for his act of “piracy” by imposing sanctions on the country’s principal exports of oil and fertiliser component potash.

On Monday night Belarusian state television aired a short video of Mr Protasevich in which he said he was healthy and that his treatment by authorities had been “maximally correct and according to law”. He also admitted to organising anti-regime protests in Minsk. The clip emerged just hours after experts told The Independent the dissident blogger would probably be “wheeled out to perform a confession”.

Mr Protasevich’s detention threatened to spiral into a great power confrontation as western politicians, including Mr Raab, pointed towards the possibility of Russian connivance or involvement.

The foreign secretary, who summoned Belarus’s ambassador to the Foreign Office for a dressing down, told the House of Commons it was “very difficult to believe that this kind of action could be taken without at least the acquiescence of the authorities in Moscow”.

There was “no evidence” for the existence of the purported bomb threat used by Minsk as a pretext for demanding the interruption of the flight, he told MPs.

In Washington, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said the US was demanding an international investigation into the incident, which she described as “a brazen affront to international peace and security” by the Lukashenko regime.

The European Union agreed on Monday evening to impose sanctions against Belarus. Leaders meeting in Brussels decided to ban its airlines from using the air space and airports of the 27-nation bloc. They demanded the immediate release of Mr Protasevich.

They also agreed to widen the list of Belarusian individuals they already sanction - also observed by the UK, which already cover 88 individuals and seven companies accused of “repression and intimidation” in Belarus. There was also a call on the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) to urgently investigate Belarus.

"The reaction should be swift and be severe," Belgian prime minister Alexander de Croo told journalists ahead of the EU summit. Irish foreign minister Simon Coveney, using language that was echoed by a number of other EU countries, said: "This was effectively aviation piracy, state sponsored."

The leaders expressed solidarity with Latvia after it said it was expelling the Belarusian ambassador and all diplomats in a tit-for-tat response to Minsk, which had told the Baltic state’s envoy to leave.

Foreign and other EU ministers will now be tasked with formalising these political decisions announced by Barend Leyts, spokesman for EU summit chairman Charles Michel, after the two hours of talks.

Mr Protasevich’s whereabouts were not immediately known. Russian media reported that student Sofia Sapega – a 23-year-old Russian national who was travelling with him and was described as his partner – had been taken to the notorious Okrestina detention centre in Minsk.

Opposition leader Svetlana Tsikhanouskaya, who is widely regarded as having defeated Lukashenko in disputed presidential elections last year, called for his release.

“We do not know where he is and in what condition,” she said. “There is a high probability that at this very moment he is being tortured by the secret service staff.”

Passengers on Ryanair service FR4978 from Athens to Lithuanian capital Vilnius said Mr Protasevich immediately realised that he was the target when a MiG fighter jet forced the civil airliner to divert.

“He started panicking and saying this was because of him,” said Lithuanian passenger Monika Simkiene. “He just turned to people and said he was facing the death penalty.”

The Nexta news service, cofounded by Mr Protasevich, ran an interview with the journalist’s mother, who said that as soon as she had heard reports of a bomb scare on a flight, she knew it was a plot to capture him.

“I just want to say that my son is simply a hero, simply a hero,” said a weeping Natalia Protasevich. “I truly hope that the international community will wake up for him. I hope so much for that. It’s very hard for us right now, very hard.”

Lithuania said that 5 of the 126 passengers who boarded the Ryanair flight in Athens did not reach their final destination.

Ryanair boss Michael O’Leary, who referred to the incident as “a state-sponsored hijacking”, said he believed security agents had been on the flight and had also disembarked in Minsk, raising the possibility that the operation involved the participation of spies operating on the ground in Greece.

MEP Radoslaw Sikorski, a former Polish foreign minister, tweeted: “If it turns out that the KGB operatives who boarded the Ryanair plane highjacked to Minsk were Russian, then Russian personnel and Russian assets should also be sanctioned.”

Mr Raab in the Commons on Monday emphasised the need for cooperation: “I do think it’s important that we coordinate with our international partners to see what is the most effective means and way of applying additional pressure on the Lukashenko regime.”

Asked if London could target Belarus on sovereign debt, potash or oil companies, he replied: “We won’t take anything  off the table.”

The foreign affairs committee chair Tom Tugendhat asked the government to call for the suspension of the Nord Stream 2 and Yamal energy pipelines which pass through Belarus – a course of action on which Mr Raab said he would “consider and consult with our partners and see what further action they are willing to take”.

Mr Raab said the UK was considering “the panoply of sanctions” against individuals involved in the grounding of the plane, as well as sectoral sanctions against the Belarus economy.

The shadow foreign secretary, Lisa Nandy, called for action to stop the Belarusian government using the London Stock Exchange to raise finances and to prevent the UK being used as “a soft touch” for its corrupt elites to store funds and assets.

Ms Nandy said: “For a state to hijack a civilian airliner flying between two Nato allies in order to arrest a journalist is an assault on the freedoms of the air and on freedom of speech.

“Unless the consequences are swift, robust and coordinated it will create an extraordinarily dangerous precedent that will put journalists, dissidents and activists from the UK or anywhere else at risk every time they board a plane.”

Conservative MP John Howell called for the issue of an international warrant for the arrest of Mr Lukashenko on charges of terrorism.

Belarus state media said Mr Lukashenko personally ordered a MiG-29 fighter jet to escort the flight he was on to Minsk after a bomb threat was received while it was over Belarus territory.

Nexta TV was declared extremist by the Minsk authorities last year after helping to organise mass demonstrations against Mr Lukashenko after allegations of fraud in last year’s elections.

Mr Protasevich subsequently fled to Poland and currently faces charges which could carry a prison sentence of up to 15 years.