Russia has condemned a fire bomb attack on its embassy in the Belarusian capital of Minsk and ordered a detailed investigation, the Russian Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday.
Unknown assailants threw two fire bombs onto the premises of the Russian Embassy in Minsk late on Monday. There were no casualties but one of the bombs hit a car, police said.
"[We] view this incident as an outrageous act in which there is a clear desire by certain forces to interfere with the normal work of the embassy and to bring distrust and tensions to [Russia-Belarus] bilateral relations," the ministry's statement said.
Russia "will press for on a quick and thorough investigation into all the circumstances of this incident, and for the swift identification and punishment of the organizers and executors of the crime," the statement went on.
It also said Russia hoped the Belarusian police would "take all necessary action to prevent similar acts in the future."
Relations between Russia and Belarus have been strained over a host of issues lately. Earlier in August the Kremlin accused Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko of failing to honor a promise to follow Russia's lead in recognizing the former Georgian republics of Abkhazia and South Ossetia.
MOSCOW, August 31 (RIA Novosti)
