In the photo: a demonstration in Kyiv in support of demands of Byelorussians.
“For the first time in our relations with Belarus we have to take such a step and we do it exclusively because of inadmissible actions of Minsk”, he underscored.
Earlier, the official Kyiv took a cautious line with regard to recent developments in the neighboring Belarus. For instance, the Ukrainian authorities have not announced yet that they do not recognize the results of the presidential elections in Belarus as it has been done by Western countries.
Thus, on August 15, the Foreign Office of Ukraine issued a statement which only established that the elections’ results called forth distrust of the Belarus society. Meanwhile, Ukrainian diplomats avoided making open announcements about the non-recognition of the results of the presidential elections in Belarus.
The official statement of the Foreign Office reads, “Generally, we share the position of the European Union on the elections in Belarus. Ukraine is very concerned over incidents of violence committed by the police towards protesters, journalists and foreigners”.
The Foreign Office of Ukraine called for the leaders of Belarus to stop persecuting political opponents and protesters as well as to investigate thoroughly all cases of using force against peaceful participants in actions of protest.
The Foreign Office notes that Ukraine considers Belarus an especially close country and is prepared to apply any effort in order to help it overcome this difficult and complex stage of its history.
Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba says that such “soft” policy of Kyiv concerning Minsk is based on two factors: the special nature of relationship between Ukraine and Belarus as well as far-reaching consequences of the weakening of Belarus in the context of distribution of forces in the region. “Belarus, the weakened and rejected by the West, will be an easy prey for the Russian Federation”. In his words, the current weakening of Minsk plays into the hands of Moscow. Ukraine needs the independent and sovereign Belarus. This fact is the postulate of Ukrainian policy.
Lately, Alexander Lukashenko speaks much about Ukraine. At first, he has intimidated Byelorussians by Maidan. And in his speech at a meeting on August 16 Lukashenko mentioned Ukraine twice and both times in a negative way. For instance, he said, “Lithuania, Latvia, Poland and, unfortunately, our dear Ukraine, its leaders order us to hold new elections”. The more, the merrier. “If you destroy the first president, it will be the beginning of your end. Like it is in Ukraine and in other countries, you will always be on your knees and pray to nobody knows who”.
The Office of the President of Ukraine has responded immediately to Lukashenko’s appeals. “A practically official allegation has been made in Minsk that the leadership of Ukraine ‘commands’ to hold new elections in Belarus. It is not just an outrageous lie. It is a deliberate aggravation of the situation. It is a deliberate provocation. For what purpose? What has this to do with Ukraine if all these developments apply to Belarus only and domestic distrust there?”, said the Office of the Ukrainian President.
It should be noted that less than two weeks before the country’s presidential elections Belarus law enforcement has detained 33 mercenaries from the private Russian military contractor Wagner Group. Some of them fought in Donbas against the Ukrainian army. Ukraine requested Minsk to extradite the militants. But Lukashenko after talks with Putin sent all detained Russians to Moscow.
It was stated at the Office of the President that Lukashenko by handing the detained Wagner men to Russia has demonstrated that “the historic closeness of our two brotherly peoples and the principle of mutual assistance between the two neighbours mean nothing to him”.
As a result, Ukrainian Ambassador to Belarus Ihor Kyzyma was recalled to Kyiv on August 17 for consultations. “As you know, official Minsk handed the detained Wagner men to Moscow last Friday although there were all legal and moral grounds to turn them over to Ukraine. This step has undermined trust between our countries and struck a heavy blow to our bilateral relations. After this, Alexander Lukashenko repeatedly and without any ground accused Ukraine of unfriendly actions against Belarus”, said Kuleba.
In the opinion of the Ukrainian Foreign Minister, new threats to both people’s personal safety and regional security come from official reports about possible involvement of Russia and the CSTO (the Collective Security Treaty Organization) in the settlement of the situation in Belarus.
“The body of facts and actions as well as the developments in Belarus the people of which voice a vote of no confidence in official results of the presidential elections have changed dramatically the state of Byelorussian-Ukrainian relations”, said the Minister.
On August 17, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy held a closed meeting with leaders of Ukrainian intelligence agencies, the law-enforcement bodies and heads of some regional state administrations. The topic of the meeting was the worsening situation in Belarus. The President said that the developments in Belarus could strongly affect Ukraine.
The meeting assessed all possible scenarios of the further development of the situation “including various kinds of escalation considering the hybrid types of world conflicts”. The press service of the President reported that the meeting had considered possible risks for Ukraine. The order was given following the meeting. However, the presidential press service did not specify the substance of the order.
Political analysts say that whatever the order of the President might be, the relationship of Ukraine and Belarus will change for the worse. If Lukashenko will be able to stay in power, Ukrainian-Byelorussian relations could hardly be called friendly and brotherly. Besides, the open support of the Kremlin will force the Incumbent President of Belarus to accept the position of Russia’s vassal. And this circumstance will entail real threats to the security of Ukraine. And as Maxim Vikhrov, an observer of the publication “Ukrainian Week”, wrote in his article, “a vassal state could turn with time into a colony and then into a bridgehead for Russian aggression against Ukraine”.
The newspaper Holos Ukrainy
