YEREVAN, JANUARY 18, ARMENPRESS. US State Department Spokesperson John Kirby commented on the issue of Russian blogger Aleksandr Lapshin who is arrested in Belarus. The Azerbaijani leadership demands his extradition from the Belarussian leadership, reports “Armenpress”.

“This is really something for the relevant countries to speak to, especially when you’re talking about extradition requests. That’s really for them to speak to. Obviously, press freedom is important to us, and we talk about it all the time”, John Kirby said at a daily press briefing.

He said the US is always concerned with the issue of press freedom.

Belarus police arrested Lapshin on December 15, 2016 in Minsk. Lapshin resides in Moscow and writes for the famous Russian Travel Blog. He is wanted by Azerbaijan for visiting Nagorno Karabakh in 2011, 2012 and 2016, and criticizing Azerbaijan’s policy in his blog. Official Baku demands from the Belarussian leadership Lapshin’s extradition.