Putin: Russia ready to provide security assistance in Belarus

Opposition supporters have staged weeks of protests, claiming the poll which saw president Alexander Lukashenko re-elected was rigged (Sergei Grits/AP)

Russian President Vladimir Putin has warned he stands ready to send police to Belarus if protests there turn violent.

Belarus’s authoritarian president of 26 years, Alexander Lukashenko, is facing widespread daily protests against his re-election to a sixth term, which came in a vote on August 9 the opposition claims was rigged.