Скачать или смотреть Ukraine-Belarus relations: Are safe neighborly ties and cooperation within reach?

Ukraine-Belarus relations: Are safe neighborly ties and cooperation within reach?

Participants:
– Vadym Denysenko, Head of the Dilova Stolytsia Analytical Center;
– Ihar Tyshkevich, Political Analyst, Co-founder of the Research Solutions Network;
– Iaroslav Chornogor, Russian and Belarusian Studies Program Director at the Foreign Policy Council Ukrainian Prism;
– Zmicier Shchyhelski, Acting Deputy Representative for Defense and Security of the United Transitional Cabinet of Belarus.

Key topics:
– Priorities that could shape Ukraine's future strategy toward Belarus;
– Opportunities for proactive steps to advance Ukrainian interests, depending on potential scenarios for a frozen war and the positions of regional states;
– How Ukraine envisions its relationship with Belarus once the war ends.

Why is it important?
Ties between Ukraine and Belarus have long reflected a mix of cooperation and contradiction. Before 2022, Belarus was among Ukraine's top three economic partners. But in February 2022, Aliaksandr Lukashenka's regime allowed russia to use Belarusian territory and provided support for the full-scale invasion.
Since then, Belarus has nevertheless taken part in prisoner exchanges and helped secure the return of Ukrainian citizens who ended up in russia. The number of Belarusian volunteers fighting for Ukraine is also among the largest of any foreign contingent.

Yet Kyiv has not defined how it wants to shape relations with Belarus after the war. The lack of a clear policy leaves Ukraine exposed, increasing the risk that its interests may be overlooked in negotiations involving international partners. Setting out the key principles of Ukraine's approach to Belarus has become both timely and essential.

Kyiv, November 24, 2025