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Belarusians support Ukraine and are ready to participate in its reconstruction. This was stated by Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya while speaking at the opening of the International Summit of Cities and Regions “Partnership. Resilience. Readiness”. She also expressed confidence in Ukraine’s victory.
“For me, there is no question of whether Ukraine will win. The only question is when this will happen. And that depends on how much all of us do to bring this moment closer… Ukraine is fighting for all peoples who have lived for too long in the shadow of empire. It is fighting for the most important thing — the right to live in peace. And the fate of my country also depends on Ukraine. I believe that a free Ukraine will open the way for a free Belarus”, she said.
Tsikhanouskaya said that during her visit she saw the consequences of Russian strikes. She visited memorials to those who gave their lives for Ukraine. At the same time, she also witnessed how Ukrainians rebuild after each attack.
“I saw destruction and how people continue to fight despite everything. But I also saw something else. I saw municipal services restoring the city the very next morning. I saw builders rebuilding streets and infrastructure. I saw people working to restore logistics”, she said.
According to her, the resilience of the Ukrainian people demonstrates that imperialism no longer works.
Tsikhanouskaya called for distinguishing between Lukashenka’s regime, which serves Russia’s interests, and the Belarusian people. She recalled that Belarusian volunteers are also fighting on the battlefield against Russian forces.
“We support the Ukrainian army and are ready to participate in Ukraine’s reconstruction. We are ready to contribute to demining efforts, infrastructure restoration, share our best practices and help develop rehabilitation programmes. Our IT specialists are ready to share technologies to protect Ukrainian democracy. Our diaspora around the world is ready to bring its experience and energy to Ukraine’s recovery.
But the most important thing Belarus can and must give Ukraine in the future is a security guarantee. A guarantee that more than 1,000 kilometres of our shared border will never again be used as a platform for aggression.
A threat must never again come from Belarusian territory toward Chernihiv, Zhytomyr, Rivne or Kyiv.
When Belarus becomes free, our cities and regions on both sides of the border will restore partnership and cooperation”, she said.
Tsikhanouskaya described Ukraine as a regional leader that has shown the world what true patriotism and true leadership look like. She expressed confidence that Ukraine can help Belarusians dismantle dictatorship and later rebuild the country after authoritarianism.
“Dear Ukrainians, on behalf of Belarusians I want to say: you inspire us and give us hope. We admire your courage and learn from you. Today we are fighting against the same evil — and for the same values: freedom, democracy and a European future. And no one should remain on the sidelines of this struggle”, she concluded.