Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy believes that Belarus must not be lost to Europe, but that Alyaksandr Lukashenka, who puts the country at Russia’s service, certainly should be “lost.” He reiterated this view in his evening address while commenting on the decision to impose sanctions against Lukashenka.
“Today there is a decision by our state on sanctions against Alyaksandr Lukashenka. With this decision, we are responding to the obvious deeper involvement of Belarus in Russia’s war against Ukraine,” Zelenskyy said.
According to him, Lukashenka is accustomed to trading away Belarus’s sovereignty and has handed over many of the country’s interests to the Russians. He recalled that Russia launched its full-scale war against Ukraine, among other places, from the territory of Belarus.
“But for a long time Lukashenka nevertheless refrained from taking direct, harsh actions in Russia’s favour. However, since last autumn Ukraine has been recording relay stations on the territory of Belarus that support strike drones. It was precisely thanks to these relay stations that Russia carried out strikes on our northern regions: from Kyiv and the Kyiv Region to the Volyn Region. These were strikes against energy infrastructure and our railways.
Also, unfortunately, Lukashenka continues to play along with Putin in his dangerous geopolitical game with ‘Oreshnik’; this is a pan-European threat. Belarus also continues to be used as a base for supplying components, equipment and machinery for the Russian army.
Taken together, all of this means that we are also changing our policy and will respond adequately to the threat. Minsk must understand this. There is this political signal in the form of sanctions. I have instructed that all schemes of Lukashenka and his accomplices also be studied carefully.
We will counter more sensitively. And we will work with our partners in the region and across Europe, as well as with global partners, so that they fully understand what they are dealing with when it comes to the regime in Belarus.
Belarus — the country, the people, the nation — must not be lost to Europe. But the figure who puts Belarus at Russia’s service certainly should be ‘lost’,” the Ukrainian president said.