The Ukrainian president said his country supported “the aspirations of the Belarusian people to free themselves from Russian interference” following talks with Tsikhanouskaya, who fled her homeland after challenging pro-Kremlin president Alexander Lukashenko in the disputed 2020 election. Belarus, Russia’s closest ally in the region, allowed Moscow to use its territory as a launchpad for the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, though Belarusian troops have not formally entered the war. Zelenskyy said he hoped Ukraine and Belarus would one day restore “good neighborly relations based on the real independence of both Ukraine and Belarus from Moscow.” “Ukraine has never been a threat to Belarus. And we are grateful to those Belarusians who stand with Ukraine – now, when the fate of both our independence and the independence of every nation that borders Russia is being decided,” the president said on social media. The leader met as Tsikhanouskaya visited Ukraine for a summit in Kyiv bringing together representatives from 24 countries, including European neighbors Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Moldova and Romania. Ukraine victory ‘crucial for Belarus’ Although not an official representative of the Belarusian state, Tsikhanouskaya claims to be the legitimate democratically elected leader of the country, which shares a long border with Ukraine. Authorities in Kyiv emphasized that she was invited as an official to the conference, rather than the Moscow-aligned Lukashenko. On social media, Tsikhanouskaya expressed her support for Ukraine in its war with Russia, emphasizing that a Ukrainian victory “is also crucial for the future of Belarus.” “Ukraine is fighting not only for itself, but for all nations that for too long have lived under the shadow of empire. It is fighting for the right to live freely, peacefully, and with dignity. And the fate of Belarus depends on Ukraine’s success,” she wrote. The exiled politician’s trip to Ukraine involved several stops, including a visit to the exclusion zone around the Chernobyl nuclear disaster site close to the Belarusian border. After meeting Tsikhanouskaya on Monday, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said Kyiv saw a future democratic Belarus as part of the Lublin Triangle, a regional cooperation platform linking Ukraine, Poland and Lithuania.
