Since the elections in August, Protasevich has allegedly been targeted by the Lukashenko regime and has had criminal charges filed against him for allegedly being a terrorist. In Belarus, terrorists can face the death penalty.

The shipments declined to 68.645 million barrels per day (bpd) in January-April this year, down from 80.554 million bpd in the same period last year.

Uzbekistan, a double-landlocked country with almost 35 million people, has been actively promoting the South and Central Asia rail link that will go through its war-torn neighbour Afghanistan, giving it access to the ports of Karachi, Gwadar and Qasim.

Several thousand protesters had been rallying in Georgia’s capital since Sunday, demanding the government fully halt the project.

Kazakhstan and Tajikistan pledged to more than double the trade turnover between the two Central Asian countries to $2 billion.