Belarus' authoritarian leader has accused the United States and its allies of fomenting massive demonstrations against his rule, a claim echoed by Russia's intelligence chief.
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In a long speech to top officials, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko ranted against the alleged US-led plan to destabilise the country and claimed that US allies in Europe have participated in the effort that took years to prepare.
Protesters in Belarus have flooded streets for a sixth week, denouncing Lukashenko's landslide re-election in the August 9 vote as rigged and demanding an end to his 26-year iron-fist rule.
The US and the European Union have criticised the election as neither free nor fair, and urged Lukashenko to start talks with the opposition - a call he has rejected.
"We had the vote and got the result, period," Lukashenko said in Wednesday's speech before top officials.
"It's time to stop stirring up society."
Sergei Naryshkin, director of Russia's Foreign Intelligence Service, claimed in a statement carried by Russian news agencies on Wednesday that the US has funded the Belarusian opposition and encouraged the protests.
Naryshkin added that his agency has information that "the US is playing a key role in the current developments in Belarus".
He alleged that the US has earmarked tens of millions of dollars to finance Belarus' opposition groups but provided no evidence.
In Wednesday's speech, Lukashenko charged that the Czech Republic, Poland, Lithuania and Ukraine have helped fuel protests.
All those countries have denied similar claims by Lukashenko in the past.
"The Belarusian 2020 scenario is a combination of the most effective 'colour' destabilisation technologies that have been tested in various countries," he said.
"They obviously count on the scale and duration of protests to wear us down and exhaust our resources. We aren't relaxing and stand ready to respond to any challenge."
German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas, whose country holds the European Union's rotating presidency, noted that and his colleagues from other EU countries will meet on Monday to consider how to proceed with sanctions.
"I will say openly that if the violence against the peaceful opposition doesn't stop, then these measures will have to be extended to significantly more people, and then we will have to talk about Mr Lukashenko," Maas told the German parliament on Wednesday.
Australian Associated Press