Belarus Belarus, officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Russia to the east and northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Belarus spans an a ...

and

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

both are full members of the Baku Initiative and Central European Initiative. In 2020, during the Belarusian protests against president Lukashenko, the relationship between Ukraine and Belarus began to deteriorate, after the Ukrainian government criticized Belarusian president

Alexander Lukashenko Alexander Grigoryevich Lukashenko (also transliterated as Alyaksandr Ryhoravich Lukashenka; born 30 August 1954) is a Belarusian politician who has been the first and only president of Belarus since the office's establishment in 1994, making hi ...

. In the waning days of 2021, the relationship between both countries rapidly deteriorated, culminating in a full-scale

invasion An invasion is a Offensive (military), military offensive of combatants of one geopolitics, geopolitical Legal entity, entity, usually in large numbers, entering territory (country subdivision), territory controlled by another similar entity, ...

on 24 February 2022. Belarus has allowed the stationing of Russian troops and equipment in its territory and its use as a springboard for offensives into northern Ukraine but has denied the presence of Belarusian troops in Ukraine. Even though part of the Russian invasion was launched from Belarus, Ukraine did not break off diplomatic relations with Belarus (unlike with Russia), but remain frozen. In July 2024, Lukashenko described Ukraine as an enemy.

Historical relations

Pre-1991 background

Both countries, each historically part of

Kievan Rus' Kievan Rus', also known as Kyivan Rus,. * was the first East Slavs, East Slavic state and later an amalgam of principalities in Eastern Europe from the late 9th to the mid-13th century.John Channon & Robert Hudson, ''Penguin Historical At ...

(9th to 13th centuries CE), came gradually under the control of the

Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, also referred to as Poland–Lithuania or the First Polish Republic (), was a federation, federative real union between the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland, Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania ...

(1569-1795), and ultimately, of the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

(1721-1917). The

Second Polish Republic The Second Polish Republic, at the time officially known as the Republic of Poland, was a country in Central and Eastern Europe that existed between 7 October 1918 and 6 October 1939. The state was established in the final stage of World War I ...

ruled parts of each in the period from 1918 to 1939. Prior to the 1991 breakup, both countries formed part of the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

(founded in 1922) as the

Byelorussian SSR The Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic (BSSR, Byelorussian SSR or Byelorussia; ; ), also known as Soviet Belarus or simply Belarus, was a republic of the Soviet Union (USSR). It existed between 1920 and 1922 as an independent state, and ...

(founded in 1920) and

Ukrainian SSR The Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, abbreviated as the Ukrainian SSR, UkrSSR, and also known as Soviet Ukraine or just Ukraine, was one of the Republics of the Soviet Union, constituent republics of the Soviet Union from 1922 until 1991. ...

(founded in 1919); they both became founding members of the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

in their own right in 1945. As Slavic nations, both Belarus and Ukraine share closely related cultures and are predominantly inhabited by the East Slavic ethnic groups of

Belarusians Belarusians ( ) are an East Slavs, East Slavic ethnic group native to Belarus. They natively speak Belarusian language, Belarusian, an East Slavic language. More than 9 million people proclaim Belarusian ethnicity worldwide. Nearly 7.99&n ...

and

Ukrainians Ukrainians (, ) are an East Slavs, East Slavic ethnic group native to Ukraine. Their native tongue is Ukrainian language, Ukrainian, and the majority adhere to Eastern Orthodox Church, Eastern Orthodoxy, forming the List of contemporary eth ...

respectively. There was an extensive period of diplomatic cooperation from 1918 to 1921 when the

Belarusian Democratic Republic The Belarusian People's Republic (BNR; , ), also known as the Belarusian Democratic Republic, was a state proclaimed by the Council of the Belarusian Democratic Republic in its Second Constituent Charter on 9 March 1918 during World War I. The ...

made contacts with the

Ukrainian People's Republic The Ukrainian People's Republic (UPR) was a short-lived state in Eastern Europe. Prior to its proclamation, the Central Council of Ukraine was elected in March 1917 Ukraine after the Russian Revolution, as a result of the February Revolution, ...

(UNR) and the

Ukrainian State The Ukrainian State (), sometimes also called the Second Cossack Hetmanate, Hetmanate (), was an Anti-communism, anti-Bolshevik government that existed on most of the modern territory of Ukraine (except for Western Ukraine) from 29 April to 14 ...

of Pavlo Skoropadsky. Skoropadsky's government made the largest overtures to the Belarusians, with him himself informally recognizing the Belarusian DR as de facto independent in October–November 1918, although de jure recognition did not materialize. The UNR, although hesitant in the beginning, ultimately attempted to follow this route in international relations after Skoropadsky's fall. During this period, although without formal recognition, both countries established diplomatic ties in May 1918, exchanged diplomatic missions, the Ukrainians provided financial assistance to the Belarusian government and there were ideas of a federated defensive alliance between Ukraine and Belarus.

Modern era

Today, the two countries share an 891–km border. An agreement on the state border between Belarus and Ukraine signed in 1997 was to be submitted to the

Belarusian parliament The National Assembly of the Republic of Belarus (; ) is the bicameral parliament of Belarus. The two chambers of the National Assembly are: *the Council of the Republic – the upper house *the House of Representatives – the lower house. ...

for ratification after Belarusian President

and former

Ukrainian President The president of Ukraine (, ) is the head of state of Ukraine. The president represents the nation in international relations, administers the foreign political activity of the state, conducts negotiations and concludes international treaties. ...

Viktor Yushchenko Viktor Andriiovych Yushchenko (, ; born 23 February 1954) is a Ukrainian politician who was the third president of Ukraine from 23 January 2005 to 25 February 2010. He aimed to orient Ukraine towards Western world, the West, European Union, and N ...

finished the process of the formalization of the border issues between the two states in early November 2009. Belarusian businessman is the Honorary Consul of Ukraine in Belarus.

Breakdowns in relations

In August 2020, during the Belarusian protests against Lukashenko, Ukraine recalled its

ambassador An ambassador is an official envoy, especially a high-ranking diplomat who represents a state and is usually accredited to another sovereign state or to an international organization as the resident representative of their own government or so ...

to Belarus for the first time to assess "the new reality" and prospects of further bilateral relations between the two neighboring countries. Belarus returned detained contractors (whom Lukashenko said were part of the

Wagner Group The Wagner Group (), officially known as PMC Wagner (, ), is a Russian state-funded private military company (PMC) controlled 2023 Wagner Group plane crash, until 2023 by Yevgeny Prigozhin, a former close ally of Russia's president Vladimir Pu ...

) to Russia, coming in defiance of Ukrainian calls to send those who were detained to Ukraine to be prosecuted for their role in the

War in Donbas The war in Donbas, or the Donbas war, was a phase of the Russo-Ukrainian War in the eastern Donbas region of Ukraine. The war Timeline of the war in Donbas (2014), began in April 2014, when Russian separatist forces in Ukraine, Russian para ...

. In a meeting with member of Ukraine's

Verkhovna Rada The Verkhovna Rada ( ; VR), officially the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, is the unicameralism, unicameral parliament of Ukraine. It consists of 450 Deputy (legislator), deputies presided over by a speaker. The Verkhovna Rada meets in the Verkhovn ...

Yevgeniy Shevchenko in April 2021, Lukashenko criticized former Ukrainian president

Leonid Kravchuk Leonid Makarovych Kravchuk (, ; 10 January 1934 – 10 May 2022) was a Ukrainian politician and the first president of Ukraine, serving from 5 December 1991 until 19 July 1994. In 1992, he signed the Lisbon Protocol, undertaking to give up Ukrai ...

for suggesting that Minsk be removed as a host in the Normandy Format as a result of the protests. In response to the forced diversion of Ryanair Flight 4978 by the Belarusian government in May 2021, Ukraine banned Belarusian airlines from operating in Ukrainian airspace. In addition, Ukraine joined the European Union in imposing sanctions on Belarusian officials. In response to Ukraine, Belarus imposed new trade barriers on a variety of Ukrainian goods entering Belarus. Letter from S

In February 2022, Russian troops invaded Ukraine from Belarus. Belarus has also stated that Russian nuclear weapons will be on Belarusian soil. In June 2023, Lukashenko claimed that “the only mistake we made was not finishing off Ukraine with Russia in 2014”. In July 2024, Lukashenko called Ukraine an "enemy" and narrated that the Belarusian troops have a "high combat readiness" near

Belarus–Ukraine border The Belarusian-Ukrainian border (, ) is the state border between Belarus and Ukraine with a length of about . It starts from the triple junction with Poland to the west and stretches to the triple junction with Russia to the east. The tripoint ...

. On 10 August 2024, Belarus' Foreign Ministry called upon Ukraine's charge d'affaires, urging Kyiv to address airspace violations following President Alexander Lukashenko's claim that Belarus had destroyed a dozen Ukrainian drones in its airspace. The ministry warned that if Ukraine failed to prevent such incidents, it would question the "appropriateness" of maintaining Ukraine's diplomatic representation in Minsk.

Diplomatic visits

* From Ukraine to Belarus **

Petro Poroshenko Petro Oleksiiovych Poroshenko (born 26 September 1965) is a Ukraine, Ukrainian politician and Oligarchy, oligarch who served as the fifth president of Ukraine from 2014 to 2019. He served as the Minister of Foreign Affairs (Ukraine), Minister ...

(

Minsk Minsk (, ; , ) is the capital and largest city of Belarus, located on the Svislach (Berezina), Svislach and the now subterranean Nyamiha, Niamiha rivers. As the capital, Minsk has a special administrative status in Belarus and is the administra ...

, 2014) ** Petro Poroshenko (Minsk, 2015) ** Petro Poroshenko (

Gomel Gomel (, ) or Homyel (, ) is a city in south-eastern Belarus. It serves as the administrative centre of Gomel Region and Gomel District, though it is administratively separated from the district. As of 2025, it is the List of cities and largest ...

, 2018) * From Belarus to Ukraine **

(

Kyiv Kyiv, also Kiev, is the capital and most populous List of cities in Ukraine, city of Ukraine. Located in the north-central part of the country, it straddles both sides of the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2022, its population was 2, ...

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

) ** Alexander Lukashenko (Kyiv, 2009) ** Alexander Lukashenko (Kyiv, 2017) ** Alexander Lukashenko (

Zhytomyr Zhytomyr ( ; see #Names, below for other names) is a city in the north of the western half of Ukraine. It is the Capital city, administrative center of Zhytomyr Oblast (Oblast, province), as well as the administrative center of the surrounding ...

, 2019)

Resident diplomatic missions

* Belarus has an embassy in

. * Ukraine has an embassy in

and a consulate-general in Brest. File:Embassy of Belarus in Kyiv.jpeg, Embassy of Belarus in Kyiv File:Ukrainian embassy Minsk.JPG, Embassy of Ukraine in Minsk

References

External links

Belarusian embassy in Kyiv (Ukrainian-language link)Belarusian embassy in Kyiv (Russian-language link)

Ukrainian embassy in Minsk (in Russian and Ukrainian only)Belarus and Ukraine cooperate in the face of Russian pressure
Belarus Digest {{DEFAULTSORT:Belarus-Ukraine Relations

Bilateral relations of Ukraine