MFA Fends Off Lukashenka’s Threats to “Bring Ukraine to Its Knees”

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine summoned Chargé d’Affaires of Belarus in Ukraine Kirill Kamyshev to strongly condemn a series of inadmissible statements made by Alexander Lukashenka at his press conference.

Primarily, the Belarusian diplomat was warned that Lukashenka’s readiness to recognise Russian sovereignty over the temporarily occupied Ukrainian Crimea was tantamount to complicity in the Kremlin’s crime against Ukraine’s territorial integrity and sovereignty with all related international legal consequences. By making such statements, he violates Belarus’ international obligations to comply with the norms and principles of international law.

Ukrainian diplomats requested the Belarusian side to clarify Lukashenka’s statements which may indicate that Belarus allowed self-proclaimed “prosecutors” from the temporarily occupied Luhansk to interrogate Raman Pratasevich.

“We consider Lukashenka’s rhetoric about ‘arms supplies’ and Ukraine’s training of ‘militants’ for action in the territory of Belarus to be irresponsible and far-fetched propaganda. Obviously, this is a product of the image of Ukraine artificially created by the Kremlin’s propagandists. Using fake information about external threats to the statehood of Belarus posed by Ukraine and other Western states, Alexander Lukashenka is trying to justify his repressive methods and restrictions on the rights and freedoms of Belarusian citizens,” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine stressed.

Ukraine also drew attention to Lukashenka’s threats to “bring Ukraine to its knees” hiding behind Putin. The Belarusian diplomat was told that those words indicated Belarus’ weakness, not its strength. Putin failed to bring Ukraine to its knees, so Lukashenka’s hopes for him are a losing stake.

Natalia Tolub