WH on Belarus journalist arrest, COVID origin probe

The White House is condemning the actions of the Belarus government after it forced the diversion of a passenger jet to the capital of Minsk in order to arrest an opposition journalist.

Press Secretary Jen Psaki said the Biden administration condemns "the Lukashenko regime's ongoing harrassment and arbirtrary detention of journalists simply for doing their job."

Ryanair said Belarusian flight controllers told the crew there was a bomb threat against the plane as it was crossing through Belarus airspace on Sunday and ordered it to land.

A Belarusian MiG-29 fighter jet was scrambled to escort the plane. Belarus authorities then arrested passenger Raman Pratasevich, a 26-year-old activist, journalist and prominent critic of President Alexander Lukashenko.

Psaki called it "a shocking act" which she said "constitutes a brazen affront of international peace and security by the regime."

She said the administration is demanding an "immediate, transparent and credible investigation" of the incident.

Psaki also said the White House and the Kremlin are moving forward on plans to arrange a summit between President Joe Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Switzerland in June.

National security adviser Jake Sullivan is meeting with his Russian counterpart in the proposed host city of Geneva this week to finalize details.

Regarding reports that raise questions about the origins of COVID-19, Psaki said the White House has been "pressing for several months" for an international investigation in coordination with partners around the world.

But she cautioned against jumping to conclusions based on media reports, insisting the world doesn't have enough information to reach a conclusion yet.

The Wall Street Journal reported over the weekend that three researchers from China's Wuhan lab sought hospital care in November 2019, just about a month before China reported its first cases of COVID-19.