After giving a speech for 8 hours

The Belarusian president stumbles and almost falls after getting up from his seat

Alexander Lukashenko.

■ archival

Belarus' President, Alexander Lukashenko, stumbled and nearly fell to the ground after his eight-hour annual address to his people.

Lukashenko appeared in a video clip circulated on social media, showing signs of fatigue and exhaustion as he tried to get up from his seat to leave the stage.

This video, filmed by a cheerful audience member, sheds light on the health of the Belarusian leader, as official cameras recording the speech were cut off as the leader finished his annual marathon speech and headed across the stage as he struggled to stay afloat.

It is not known if his health is fine.

This citizen shared the video, commenting: "Look at Lukashenko's condition as he left his press conference yesterday."

Others commented on Twitter: "He looked like Yeltsin," referring to drunken former Russian President Boris Yeltsin.

The video clip appeared in the wake of Lukashenko's angry annual speech to the people of his country, in which he criticized the United Kingdom for the new economic sanctions it imposed on Belarus, after a series of international incidents.

Lukashenko appeared during his speech, shouting: "These sanctions can suffocate the United Kingdom too, we have not had the weakest relationship with the so-called Great Britain, and we do not want a single relationship with it, you are the dogs of America!"

The Belarusian leader was criticized after he diverted a Ryanair flight to Minsk to arrest opposition journalist Roman Protasevich, who was on board, who was traveling to Ukraine.

Lukashenko also faces mounting pressure after the death in Ukraine of Vitaly Shishov, a Belarusian who worked to rehouse citizens who had fled the country.

The Belarusian runner, Kristina Tsimanoskaya, refused to board the flight home from Tokyo, after she claimed that Belarusian officials had taken her to the airport against her wishes, and she requested asylum in Poland.

This comes as Britain imposed sanctions on Belarus' exports of potash and petroleum products, on Monday, in an attempt to pressure President Lukashenko.

"These sanctions show that the UK will not accept Lukashenko's actions since his rigged elections," British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said. "The Lukashenko regime continues to crush democracy and violate human rights in Belarus," and concluded: "Products of Belarusian state-owned industries will not be sold In the UK, our airlines will not deal with his fleet of luxury aircraft.”

Lukashenko appeared in a video clip circulated on social media, showing signs of fatigue and exhaustion as he tried to get up from his seat to leave the stage.

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