Belarusian opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky held their first bilateral meeting late Sunday, Jan. 25, in Vilnius, focusing on jailed Belarusian activists, pressure on Aleksander Lukashenko, and Ukraine’s support for democratic forces in Belarus.
The meeting took place as Zelensky attended a ceremony commemorating the 1863 uprising in Poland and Lithuania against Tsarist Russia.
Posting on Telegram, Tsikhanouskaya said she spoke “on behalf of Belarusians” in expressing full support for Ukraine and praised what she called Zelensky’s “exceptional personal leadership” during the war.
Tsikhanouskaya also thanked Zelensky and his team – including Kyrylo Budanov, head of the presidential administration – for receiving the latest group of freed Belarusian political prisoners.
She said the two sides discussed how future releases could be secured and Ukraine’s ongoing role in such efforts.
Sanctions, coordination with European and US partners, and holding Lukashenko and his allies accountable – including over the deportation of Ukrainian children – were also on the agenda.
Tsikhanouskaya proposed appointing a special envoy on Belarus and called for closer cooperation with Belarusian democratic forces in Kyiv. Zelensky invited her to visit Ukraine.
“The destinies of a free Belarus and Ukraine are intertwined,” Tsikhanouskaya wrote on Telegram, adding that her team was ready to deepen cooperation with Kyiv.
The meeting comes as Tsikhanouskaya prepares to leave Lithuania for neighboring Poland, her home in exile since a brutal crackdown forced her to flee Belarus in 2020, sources told AFP. The move follows Lithuania’s decision last year to lower her security status, prompting concerns about the team’s safety.
Tsikhanouskaya ran against Lukashenko in the disputed 2020 presidential election, which the opposition says she won. The Belarusian regime responded with mass arrests and forced tens of thousands into exile. Many fled to Lithuania and Poland, with Vilnius becoming the opposition’s base.
Her team reported increased threats from Minsk’s KGB after Lithuania downgraded her security in October. Her husband, opposition blogger Sergei Tikhanovsky – released from prison last year – is currently in the US for security reasons.