Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Sunday that the United States "strongly condemned" Belarus for forcing a Ryanair flight carrying a wanted opposition activist from Greece to Lithuania to land in the Belarusian capital Minsk. The United States "strongly condemns the forced diversion of a flight between two EU member states and the subsequent removal and arrest of journalist Raman Pratasevich in Minsk. We demand his immediate release," Blinken said in a statement. "This shocking act perpetrated by the Lukashenka regime endangered the lives of more than 120 passengers, including US citizens." bgs/to