Thousands of people gathered in Minsk on Saturday to attend the funeral of the 34-year-old man who died during protests against incumbent President Alexander Lukashenko earlier this week, Reuters reports. There are divided opinions about what caused his death. According to Belarusian police, he died when an explosive device he intended to throw at the police exploded in his hand.

At the place where the death occurred, flowers and candles have been placed and opposition figures can be seen waving placards condemning the police violence and shouting "leave", a call for the president to resign.

Discussions between the US and the EU

It has been almost a week since Lukashenko was declared the winner of the election, after 26 years in power. Major and violent protests have been going on in Minsk since then and around 7,000 people have been detained.

On Friday, EU foreign ministers agreed to prepare targeted sanctions against those involved in electoral fraud and violence against protesters.

The United States is also critical of the current situation. During a visit to Poland on Saturday, Foreign Minister Mike Pompeo said that the United States has entered into a dialogue with the EU on Belarus.

- The common goal is to support the Belarusian people to achieve their own sovereignty and freedom, he says.

"Will not give away the land to anyone"

Meanwhile, a first official conversation between Lukashenko and Russian President Vladimir Putin has taken place. According to a statement from the Kremlin, the two leaders agreed that "the problems that have arisen will be resolved quickly."

After the conference call, Lukashenko stated that he did not want any help from foreign mediators to resolve the situation.

- We will not give the country to anyone, he says to the state news agency Belta.