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Lukashenko now has more reasons to fear Ukraine than vice versa News in Depth TVP WORLD
Belarusian strongman Alexander Lukashenko caved in to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s ultimatum to Belarus, demanding the Minsk regime switch off the relay station used by Russian drones in strikes against Ukraine. A move that is certainly not welcome in Moscow, but one that also highlights a reversal of positions Ukraine and Belarus previously found themselves in.
“Lukashenko is really walking a tightrope at the moment, (...) he doesn’t want to antagonize the Ukrainians,” said Stuart Dowell, TVP World’s Political Editor, citing Ukraine’s capability to strike deep inside Russia, let alone just across the border into Belarus.
Since the beginning of the war, when Belarus served as a launching ground for Russian attempts to capture Kyiv, Ukraine’s northern neighbor has been both instrumental to the Russian war effort and at the same time continues to be heavily dependent on Moscow economically and politically, all the while Lukashenko tried to present himself as a neutral side.
“But Ukraine has taken a kind of hands-off approach. ‘Don't antagonize them. Don't push them close to Russia.’ (...) But now, with its increased capabilities, and that we can see perhaps the end of the war, (...) Ukraine is taking a different approach,” Dowell added, identifying the change in the post of the head of the Ukrainian President’s office, when Andrii Yermak, accused of corruption, was replaced with former military intelligence chief Kirill Budanov.
Join our host, Maciej Mikos, and his guest as they explore Lukashenko’s attempts to escape from his position between the rock and a hard place by making diplomatic overtures toward the West, why Kyiv may think that it is throwing a spanner in their works, and whether the fall of Kostiantynivka to the Russians will mark the fall of Donbas.
“Lukashenko is really walking a tightrope at the moment, (...) he doesn’t want to antagonize the Ukrainians,” said Stuart Dowell, TVP World’s Political Editor, citing Ukraine’s capability to strike deep inside Russia, let alone just across the border into Belarus.
Since the beginning of the war, when Belarus served as a launching ground for Russian attempts to capture Kyiv, Ukraine’s northern neighbor has been both instrumental to the Russian war effort and at the same time continues to be heavily dependent on Moscow economically and politically, all the while Lukashenko tried to present himself as a neutral side.
“But Ukraine has taken a kind of hands-off approach. ‘Don't antagonize them. Don't push them close to Russia.’ (...) But now, with its increased capabilities, and that we can see perhaps the end of the war, (...) Ukraine is taking a different approach,” Dowell added, identifying the change in the post of the head of the Ukrainian President’s office, when Andrii Yermak, accused of corruption, was replaced with former military intelligence chief Kirill Budanov.
Join our host, Maciej Mikos, and his guest as they explore Lukashenko’s attempts to escape from his position between the rock and a hard place by making diplomatic overtures toward the West, why Kyiv may think that it is throwing a spanner in their works, and whether the fall of Kostiantynivka to the Russians will mark the fall of Donbas.