{"id":579437,"date":"2026-09-22T09:25:53","date_gmt":"2026-09-22T06:25:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/reform.news\/?p=579437"},"modified":"2026-09-22T11:01:25","modified_gmt":"2026-09-22T08:01:25","slug":"sybiha-calls-for-increased-pressure-on-lukashenka","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/reform.news\/en\/sybiha-calls-for-increased-pressure-on-lukashenka","title":{"rendered":"Sybiha Calls For Increased Pressure On Lukashenka"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha<\/b>, speaking at a side event attended by Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya<\/b>, called for increased pressure on Lukashenka over his complicity in Russia\u2019s aggression.<\/p>\n

The Ukrainian minister took part in the event \u201cBelarus: Complicit In Russia\u2019s War Against Ukraine And A Threat To International Security,\u201d organized by Latvia on the sidelines of the high-level week of the 81st session of the UN General Assembly.<\/p>\n

\u201cPressure on the regimes in Moscow and Minsk will be effective only when there are no exceptions or compromises. Russian missiles make no exceptions when they kill civilians in Ukraine. Therefore, there can be no exceptions in putting pressure on them, neither for Russian oligarchs nor for Belarusian resources,\u201d<\/i> he said.<\/p>\n

According to him, Russia continues to use Belarusian territory and resources for the war against Ukraine. Belarusian enterprises supply components and materials to Russia\u2019s military-industrial complex, while refineries provide Russia with fuel.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe regime in Minsk is inseparable from the regime in Moscow. It has no agency of its own. Therefore, there should be no illusions or attempts to present wishful thinking as reality in our policy toward Lukashenka,\u201d<\/i> he said.<\/p>\n

The minister also drew attention to hybrid threats from Belarus to neighboring EU and NATO countries, including migration pressure.<\/p>\n

\u201cBelarus is complicit in Russia\u2019s war of aggression against Ukraine. We have taken all the necessary legal steps to ensure that those responsible are duly held accountable. Lukashenka and senior officials of his regime must face justice before a Special Tribunal for the Crime of Aggression against Ukraine, just as Putin and his officials must,\u201d<\/i> Sybiha said.<\/p>\n

At the same time, the Ukrainian minister stressed the need to distinguish between the Lukashenka regime and the Belarusian people, who demonstrated their desire for freedom in 2020. He also expressed gratitude to Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya and noted the strengthening of dialogue with Belarusian democratic forces.<\/p>\n

\u201cTogether, we are discussing ways to counter the Lukashenka regime. I support the sanctions proposals put forward by Sviatlana and her team,\u201d<\/i> Sybiha said.<\/p>\n

He recalled that Ukraine\u2019s Foreign Ministry had appointed an ambassador-at-large to engage with Belarusian democratic forces. According to him, Ukraine also sees a place for Belarus in the Lublin Triangle, which also includes Lithuania and Poland.<\/p>\n

Sybiha warned international partners against easing their approach toward Lukashenka amid the release of political prisoners.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe release of innocent people should always be welcomed. But treating their freedom as a bargaining chip encourages the taking of new hostages and trading their release for what his regime wants. We have already seen him do this with foreign citizens,\u201d<\/i> the minister said.<\/p>\n

Sybiha stressed that pressure on Lukashenka must continue to be increased, further involvement of Belarus in the war must be prevented, and support for Belarusian democratic forces must continue.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe must speak clearly: easing pressure on Belarus for its role in Russia\u2019s war sends the wrong signal to both Moscow and Minsk that aggression pays off. Instead, the pressure must be increased,\u201d<\/i> Sybiha concluded.<\/p>\n

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Photo: Ukrainian Foreign Ministry<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Photo: Ukrainian Foreign Ministry<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha, speaking at a side event attended by Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, called for increased pressure on Lukashenka over his complicity in Russia\u2019s aggression. The Ukrainian minister took part in the event \u201cBelarus: Complicit In Russia\u2019s War Against Ukraine And A Threat To International Security,\u201d organized by Latvia on the sidelines of the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":119,"featured_media":579436,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_sharing_image":{"poster":"https:\/\/reform.news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/6ab235d8b3879.jpg","width":1200,"height":630,"template":"691142dd","mode":"auto"},"_sharing_image_fieldset":{"dTVKfmI95PYT":"Sybiha Calls For Increased Pressure On Lukashenka"},"footnotes":""},"categories":[142339,142338,143090],"tags":[143118,143172,143123],"class_list":["post-579437","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-main","category-news","category-politics","tag-belarus","tag-svetlana-tihanovskaja","tag-ukraina"],"wps_subtitle":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/reform.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/579437","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/reform.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/reform.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reform.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/119"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reform.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=579437"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/reform.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/579437\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":579438,"href":"https:\/\/reform.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/579437\/revisions\/579438"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reform.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/579436"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/reform.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=579437"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reform.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=579437"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reform.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=579437"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}