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No one can influence Belarusian President Aliaksandr Lukashenka, except Russia’s Vladimir Putin, Belarusian opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya said.
“He will fulfil all the orders of Putin, but he’s doing this against the will of the Belarusian people,” Tsikhanouskaya told Euronews’ Europe Today morning show on Tuesday.
French President Emmanuel Macron reportedly warned Lukashenka on Sunday not to escalate his country’s involvement in Russia’s all-out war against Ukraine.
The rare phone call took place over Minsk’s potential military threats to northern Ukraine, a Russia-Belarus nuclear exercise and the consequent tensions with European NATO members, sparked by drone incursions in the Baltic.
But Tsikhanouskaya says these steps would not bring any tangible results.
“Lukashenka is serving to Russia’s interests, not the interests of the Belarusian people. He’s ready to betray our sovereignty, our independence, just to stay in power. So please don’t think that Lukashenka can be split,” she said.
Speaking from Kyiv, she told Euronews that no one can drive a wedge between Lukashenka and Putin.
“Lukashenka and Putin have a symbiotic friendship, they support each other, they use each other. And of course, it’s an illusion that they can be split.”
Threats from Belarus
Kyiv has issued numerous warnings that Russia may be preparing a new offensive against northern Ukraine with the help of Belarus.
As it launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Moscow used Belarusian territory to cross Ukraine’s border and move its forces towards the northern regions and the capital Kyiv.
On her first official visit to Ukraine this week, Tskihanouskaya said that “Ukraine is defending the entire region from Russian imperialism” and insisted that the people of Belarus are “allies and not enemies” of Ukraine.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said last week that Kyiv is prepared to take “preventive” measures against Russia and the Belarusian leadership over potential military threats to northern Ukraine.
“The de facto leadership of Belarus” must “stay on its toes – that is, clearly understand that there will be consequences if aggressive actions against Ukraine, against our people, are taken”.
Same as in 2022, Lukashenka denied any plans to involve his country in the war, unless “aggression is committed against (Belarusian) territory”, pointing not only at Ukraine, but also at the Baltic states.
In April he made unjustified claims about alleged aggression against Belarus from Poland and the Baltic states and vowed that Minsk — together with Moscow — would respond using all available means, including nuclear weapons.
“My task is to warn my neighbours, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and possibly to some extent Ukraine. May God protect them from aggression against Belarus. We do not want war, we are not planning to fight them,” Lukashenka said.