Lukashenko deals Ukraine hostile gestures amid crisis

Embattled Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko
dealt Ukraine hostile gestures on Aug. 14 that undermined the Ukrainian Foreign
Ministry’s attempts at mutual support during the current political crisis. In
what was viewed by Ukrainian leaders as an insult, Lukashenko transferred
custody of 32 Wagner mercenaries to the Russian government, ignoring a similar
request from the Zelensky administration, which had identified 14 of those
detained as having participated in the illegal Russian military aggression in
Donbas.

 

The transfer “occurred in strict conformity with the
norms of international law and the national legislation of the Russian
Federation and Belarus, in tight cooperation between the countries’ prosecutor
bodies,” said a statement by the Russian prosecutor general’s office. Recall,
Belarusian authorities detained 33 Wagner mercenaries on July 29 and the
Prosecutor General’s Office of Ukraine submitted a request for the extradition
of 28 mercenaries on Aug. 12.

 

Lukashenko’s “strange” and “unacceptable” decision on
the Wagner mercenaries neglects the trust and objectivity built between the two
countries, as well as an adequate assessment of the negative consequences
involved, said Ukrainian President Zelensky in an Aug. 15 Facebook post.

 

“We view this decision as unjust, to put it lightly,
which doesn’t correspond to the spirit of relations between Ukraine and
Belarus, which were built on the principles of respect and mutual aid. The
consequences of this decision will be tragic. We understand that the Wagnerites
will return to their regular pursuits, which is spreading war. God forbid that
the Belarus government doesn’t have on its territory one more fiery, bloody
Donbas, which these Wagnerites know very well how to create,” Zelensky wrote.

 

Lukashenko’s second hostile gesture involved
implicating Ukraine, among a series of other countries, in sending aggressors
to create conflict within Belarus. Among the nearly 7,000 protestors arrested
were at least four Ukrainian citizens, Belarus police reported. “Don’t go into
the streets now! Understand that you and your children are being used as cannon
fodder. Currently people are arriving from Poland, Holland, Ukraine and that
‘open Russia,’ (Aleksei) Navalny and so forth. An aggression has begun against
the country,” Lukashenko said, as reported by the belta.by state news agency.
He added that he can’t “sit and wait” in order to stabilize the situation.
“That’s why it’s necessary to stop, think and calm down. And to allow us to
establish order and figure out who has arrived here,” he said. In response to
the claims of Ukrainian aggressors, President Zelensky said Ukraine has not
interfered with the internal processes in Belarus, which was backed by a
foreign ministry statement that no Ukrainians have been involved in
destabilizing Belarus.

 

In a separate statement released on Aug. 15, Ukraine’s
Foreign Ministry struck a neutral tone in its assessment of the presidential
elections in Belarus, calling for the opposition to find a compromise with the Lukashenko
regime and avoiding a call to reject the results, as the E.U. has done. It did
call for halting further political persecution of the opposition, particularly
demonstrators, and carefully investigating all the facts of excessive use of
force.

 

“Overall, we share the position expressed by the E.U.
regarding the elections in Belarus. Ukraine is extremely concerned with the
incidents of unjustified harshness of law enforcement authorities towards
citizens that are participating in protests, as well as mass media
representatives and foreigners. We are counting on the release on bail of some
of those detained becoming the start of a dialogue between the government and
civil society with the goal of finding compromises,” the statement said.

 

Zenon Zawada: Lukashenko
demonstrated this weekend that he has no respect for not only the Zelensky
administration, but also Ukraine’s Western integration. This was apparent from
his Aug. 16 warning – incoherent, but revealing – that Belarus “will always,
like Ukraine and other countries, kneel and pray to who knows what” without him
in charge. Nor has he been the least bit impressed with Ukraine’s diplomatic
efforts, such as the recent launch of the Lublin Triangle
to help mediate the conflict. Lukashenko’s hostility towards the “Triangle”
countries was likely provoked by Lithuania, whose leadership called for his
ouster as early as Aug. 13.

 

Other than the “Triangle” effort, the Zelensky administration
is playing a low key role in the conflict because it has adopted a foreign
policy of pragmatism, rather than committing itself to a firm pro-Western or
pro-Russian position. It is even falling short of the E.U. position by not
openly rejecting the results. So given that the Ukrainians themselves have
abdicated a leadership role, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that Lukashenko
has decided to ignore the Ukrainian factor. No matter what the outcome,
Ukrainian-Belarusian relations will be strained, but not ruined as a result.