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Lukashenko Outlines When Belarus Would Join Russia’s War Against Ukraine
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Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko warned that his military will officially join Russia’s war against Ukraine if Belarus is attacked first. Kyiv dismissed the conditional threat, along with a sudden offer from Lukashenko to hold bilateral talks, RBC-Ukraine reported on May 21.
The Ukrainian President’s Office has stated that Lukashenko’s words have meant “nothing” since he allowed his country to be used as a staging ground for the full-scale Russian invasion in 2022.
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The exchange began when Lukashenko, reacting to Zelenskyy’s warnings that Moscow is attempting to drag Minsk directly into the war, claimed that Belarus would only enter the war if attacked first.
According to the Belarusian state news agency BelTA, Lukashenko insisted there was “no need” for Belarusian involvement in Ukraine, adding that he would stand with Russia to defend the “motherland from Brest to Vladivostok” only in the event of foreign aggression against Belarus.
He then expressed a sudden willingness to hold direct talks with Zelenskyy to discuss “problems in Belarusian-Ukrainian relations.”
“Anywhere—in Ukraine, in Belarus—I am ready to meet with him,” Lukashenko stated. “For some reason, we have things to talk about with the Americans, Germans, Poles, Lithuanians, and Latvians, but not with Ukraine.”
When asked by RBC-Ukraine about the Belarusian leader’s proposal, Ukrainian Presidential Advisor Dmytro Lytvyn responded with a cold dismissal, suggesting that Kyiv is ignoring the rhetoric and focusing solely on the military reality along the northern border.
“Therefore, we monitor his actions,” Lytvyn said. “Lukashenko has a habit of somewhat stupidly inventing post factum where an ‘attack was being prepared’ against him. What is there to talk about?”
The rebuke came on the same day Ukrainian President Zelenskyy visited Slavutych, a Ukrainian city located close to the Belarusian border, where he met with local communities to discuss urgent border security measures, RBC-Ukraine wrote.
Kyiv’s dismissal of the Belarusian leader’s overtures follows renewed warnings from Zelenskyy about the persistent military threat from the north. Zelenskyy had recently revealed that Ukrainian intelligence continues to evaluate scenarios for potential new offensives targeting the Chernihiv and Kyiv regions from Belarusian territory and Russia’s Bryansk region.
Highlighting Moscow’s efforts to drag Minsk deeper into the war, the President instructed the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to intensify diplomatic pressure on Belarus alongside international partners. Simultaneously, military commands have been ordered to reinforce defensive positions along the northern border, with Zelenskyy warning that any attempt by Belarus to expand the conflict will be met with severe consequences.
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