What important role does Belarus play in the Ukraine conflict?
June 14, 2025, 10:55 AM
Author: Natalia Grigoryeva
Belarus has repeatedly emphasized that the country is not directly involved in the special military operation (SVO) in Ukraine and has no plans to intervene unless it is attacked. At the same time, Minsk has always positioned itself as Russia's ally, striving to provide Moscow with all possible assistance.
Over the past three years, Minsk's official stance has not changed, but its role in certain aspects related to the Ukraine conflict has become extremely crucial. First, it has played a significant role in maintaining and establishing specific contacts between Russia and Ukraine.
It is well known that Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko clearly defined the country's role in the special military operation as early as 2022. According to him, Belarus's task "is to ensure that our western borders (referring here to Poland and Lithuania) are not violated and that Russian troops will not be attacked from the Belarusian direction." The Belarusian leader also emphasized, "We are not killing anyone there, nor do we plan to do so," because "no one asked us to participate in this action (referring to Russia)," and therefore "we have no intention of getting involved."
Based on this stance, although Belarusian armed forces have not participated in the special military operation, the country has been deeply involved in all processes directly or indirectly related to the Ukraine crisis. Minsk is not only referred to as Russia's "joint aggressor" and thus faces additional sanctions from the West but also has to invest more funds to strengthen its defense capabilities, including expanding military-technical cooperation with Russia. As a result, joint force clusters, Russian nuclear weapons, and future deployment of the "Iskander" missile system have appeared on Belarusian territory.
In addition, Belarus has actively participated in humanitarian affairs related to the special military operation and the actions of the Kiev regime in recent years. For example, Belarus has long organized rest activities for children in the Donetsk region, provided treatment for Russian soldiers, organized various humanitarian missions, and delivered supplies to areas attacked by Ukrainian armed forces. In late December last year, an initiative was even launched to support families of soldiers who died in the special military operation area. Under this project, Belarusian and Russian psychologists and psychotherapists collaborated with families of fallen soldiers. All these efforts, along with the influx of Ukrainian citizens fleeing the Vladimir Zelenskyy regime (who created the most favorable conditions for them in Belarus), directly demonstrate Minsk's deep involvement in events occurring in Ukraine and its surroundings.
Meanwhile, Belarus has another extremely important mission - organizing contacts between Kiev and Moscow, including prisoner exchanges and repatriation of fallen soldiers' remains. It should be noted that after the start of the special military operation, the Ukrainian Embassy in Russia completely stopped receiving citizens, and on March 13, 2022, the Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced the closure of all consulates in Russia. However, Ukrainian diplomatic missions in Belarus remained operational. It is reported that Moscow and Kiev communicated in writing through their embassies in Minsk regarding consular and legal issues. As Alexander Lukashenko said in October 2024, if Ukrainians have problems, "they can approach us, and we can also relay some issues to the Russian Federation, especially military-related issues. If such issues arise, we will immediately convey them."
It was precisely on Belarusian territory that multiple meetings were held between Russia and Ukraine on humanitarian issues. For example, in the summer of 2024, Minsk handed over a Ukrainian saboteur who organized a terrorist attack near the Machulischi military airport to Kiev in exchange for Russian soldiers and Metropolitan Ioan of the Ukrainian Orthodox Turcinov and Bratslav Diocese. In November of the same year, there were reports that Tatyana Moskalchukova, the Russian Commissioner for Human Rights, met with Ukrainian Ombudsman Dmitry Lubintsev in Belarus to discuss family reunification and the return of civilians. As Lukashenko said, "All this happens on our territory and is facilitated entirely by us," and neither side refused Belarus's involvement.
Belarus's mediating role in prisoner and fallen soldier exchanges is also an important moment. According to publicly available information, in 2024, the two countries officially conducted 12 exchanges, during which Russia recovered 535 soldiers. Even before direct negotiations began between Moscow and Kiev in Istanbul, the scale of exchanges set records. Specifically, on February 5, both sides released 150 people each; on March 19, 175 people each (Ukraine also received an additional 22 severely injured personnel); on April 19, 246 people each (in addition, Kiev exchanged 31 injured soldiers for 15 Russians in urgent need of medical care); on May 6, 205 prisoners of war were released each. All these events took place on Belarusian territory, and the Russian Ministry of Defense has repeatedly stated that the released Russian soldiers received various medical and psychological assistance before returning home.
After Russia and Ukraine began negotiations in Istanbul, Belarus's role in prisoner exchanges became increasingly important. According to the results of the first meeting, both sides agreed to exchange according to the formula "1000 for 1000," which was successfully completed in Belarus. The second round of talks scheduled for June 2 aimed to exchange seriously ill and injured individuals as well as soldiers under 25 years old. According to the Russian Ministry of Defense, by June 14, three rounds of exchanges had been completed.
In addition to prisoner and civilian exchanges, the remains of fallen soldiers are also exchanged on Belarusian territory. For instance, it is noteworthy that in February, Russia returned 757 bodies via Belarus in exchange for 45; subsequently, in March, it separately returned 909 and 43 bodies. Considering the exchange ratio, this process greatly displeased the Kiev regime, which is making every effort to conceal its losses over many years of combat and create an illusion of combat readiness among Ukraine's citizens.
The events of last week vividly illustrate this point: after reaching an agreement in Istanbul for Russia to transfer the remains of 6,000 Ukrainian soldiers to Kiev, a certain panic arose, leading to a representative situation. It is known that on June 7, Russia transported 1,212 bodies in refrigerated trucks to the exchange zone in Bryansk Oblast (at the intersection of the Russian, Ukrainian, and Belarusian borders), but the Kiev regime ignored it.
The reason for Kiev's delay in exchanging fallen soldiers' remains is quite simple: unwillingness to pay compensation to the families of the fallen soldiers (amounting to possibly over $2 billion), lack of technical capability for storing and identifying remains (despite Russia providing lists), and the failure of recent propaganda aimed at misleading ordinary Ukrainians. It is reported that Kiev reluctantly received the first batch of remains on June 11, transferring only 27 to Russia; on June 13, it transferred 1,200 remains. However, it remains unclear when Ukrainian authorities will decide to receive the remaining soldiers' remains.
In the current situation, how both Kiev and Moscow evaluate Belarus's role in relevant events is also worth noting. Practice shows that the Ukrainian authorities attempt to ignore Minsk's official actions at the official level, continuing to refer to it as a "joint aggressor" and enemy, believing it may either directly engage in military conflict with Ukraine or provide territorial support for Russia's next offensive. Ukrainian propagandists try to show disdain for the "Alexander Lukashenko regime" in any possible way, regardless of what he has done for Ukrainians. In this regard, a typical example is the gifts provided by Belarus to Ukrainian prisoners of war, which were distributed before their return home. However, in front of media cameras, all gifts (including clothing and food) were thrown into garbage piles, accompanied by the well-known slogans of Ukrainian nationalists. Unfortunately, given the current xenophobic ideology and neo-Nazi manifestations in Ukraine, Belarusians cannot expect anything else from the Ukrainian side.
Russia's attitude toward Belarus's role is completely different. Moscow has repeatedly emphasized Belarus's importance in negotiations and other processes related to the Ukraine situation and expressed sincere gratitude. When the U.S. and Russia exchanged personnel in August 2024, Vladimir Putin personally thanked Alexander Lukashenko for his help, and this remains true today. For example, on May 26, the Russian leader expressed gratitude during a phone conversation with his Belarusian counterpart for Belarus's assistance in organizing prisoner exchanges with Ukraine. Subsequently, the Russian Foreign Ministry also issued a similar statement.
According to Maria Zakharova, the official spokesperson for the Russian Foreign Ministry, "Representatives of Belarusian state institutions and departments have significantly contributed to the successful implementation of this agreement," and Russia sees "Minsk, Belarus, and the Belarusian people each time helping Russian prisoners of war captured in Ukraine, civilians in the Kursk region return home, and reuniting children with their families."
She said, "We are extremely grateful." On June 10, Sergei Lavrov, the Russian Foreign Minister, confirmed this after negotiating with Belarusian Foreign Minister Maxim Reznikov. According to him, "We thank our Belarusian friends for their support and understanding of the causes and course of the special military operation," as well as "our clear peace resolution policy and our willingness to provide Belarusian territory for contact, organize exchanges, and generally assist in resolving humanitarian issues as mediators."
Therefore, it can be determined that despite not directly participating in the special military operation, Belarus has now become an indispensable part of the operation. And this fact not only serves Belarus's national interests but also aligns with Russia's national interests. Therefore, it can be confidently stated that, regardless of how dissatisfied the Kiev regime may be, Belarus's role and position in events occurring in Ukraine and its surroundings will continue to rise.
Original Source: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7515969173709767187/
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