Ukraine warns Belarus against provocations and advises it to stay away from borders

The Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has warned Minsk against reckless provocations and advised it not to approach Ukraine's borders amid planned military exercises on Belarusian territory.

Source: Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs in a statement, as reported by European Pravda

Details: The ministry emphasised that Belarus has been complicit in Russia's crime of aggression against Ukraine since 2022 and that cooperation between Moscow and Minsk poses a threat to the whole of Europe.

"We call on our partners to remain vigilant, to increase sanctions and political pressure on Russia and Belarus, to jointly counter Russian propaganda and strengthen Ukraine's defence capabilities, which is protecting Europe from the Russian threat," the statement said.

The ministry also reiterated that the build-up of Russian troops on Ukraine's borders had taken place under the cover of joint Russia-Belarus Zapad-2021 military exercises in 2021-2022.

Quote: "We warn Minsk against reckless provocations, advising it to remain prudent, not to approach the borders and not to provoke the defence forces of Ukraine."

Details: The statement was issued amid upcoming Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO) exercises in Belarus in the coming weeks, including Interaction-2025, Search-2025 and Echelon-2025, and Zapad-2025 joint strategic exercises by the Belarusian and Russian armed forces.

Background:

• Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda earlier said that the Zapad-2025 exercises would be two to three times smaller in scale than those held in 2021 before Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
• As the Zapad-2025 military exercises draw near, Lithuania has closed its airspace along part of the border with Belarus.
• Belarus recently announced that it has not ruled out a partial change in the location of the Zapad-2025 exercises, saying they might be moved deeper into the country, blaming this on what it claimed was the aggressive behaviour of Poland and Lithuania.

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