Chief of defence staff and Belarus opposition leader attend Ottawa conference

Belarusian opposition chief Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya speaks throughout a press convention in Vilnius, Lithuania, on Feb. 3, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP-Mindaugas Kulbis

OTTAWA --
Gen. Wayne Eyre, chief of the defence workers, will converse at the moment at a world defence convention in Ottawa that Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, Belarus's exiled opposition chief, will even handle.

Tsikhanouskaya claimed a first-round victory over Alexander Lukashenko within the 2020 Belarusian presidential election after she stood within the place of her husband, who had been detained.

She disputed the eventual election of Lukashenko, who's an in depth ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin. He has allowed Belarus to be a staging submit for Putin's invasion of Ukraine, letting Russian troops amass alongside the border.

The Ottawa Convention is to be attended by defence figures from Canada and key allies, together with the UK's vice-chief of the defence workers, Admiral Tim Fraser.

The convention will have a look at the present state of worldwide safety, together with in Ukraine.

Defence Minister Anita Anand will attend the convention on Friday.

This report by The Canadian Press was first revealed March 10, 2022.