President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Friday, May 15, that Ukrainian intelligence has evidence Russia is attempting to draw Belarus more directly into the war against Ukraine and possibly into future operations against NATO countries.
Following a meeting with Ukraine’s military and intelligence leadership, Zelensky said Kyiv had identified additional contacts between Russian officials and Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko aimed at persuading Minsk to join new Russian military operations.
“We continue recording Russian attempts to pull Belarus deeper into the war against Ukraine,” Zelensky wrote on Telegram.
Zelensky said Russia is considering operational plans launched from Belarusian territory either toward Ukraine’s Chernihiv-Kyiv sectors or against a NATO member state.
“Ukraine possesses details of the conversation between Russia and Belarus,” Zelensky said.
Zelensky warned that Ukraine would defend itself if Lukashenko decided to directly support Russian military operations.
“Ukraine will undoubtedly defend itself and its people if Alexander Lukashenko makes a mistake and decides to support this Russian intention as well,” he said.
Zelensky added that he had instructed the Ukrainian military and security services to prepare a response plan to be reviewed at a future meeting of the Stavka, a group of top military leaders that governs the General Staff.
Rising rhetoric from Belarus
Belarus has allowed Russia to use its territory for military operations since the start of the full-scale invasion in 2022, but has not officially entered the war with its own troops.
On Wednesday, Lukashenko announced a rotational mobilization of selected military units “in order to prepare them for war.”
He said the new approach was in preparation for a possible “ground operation.”
“We will selectively mobilize units, the armed forces, in order to prepare them for war,” Lukashenko said. “God willing, it will be possible to avoid it. We are all preparing for war.”
On May 2, Zelensky said “specific activity” had been observed on the Belarusian side of the border and that Kyiv was monitoring the situation and would respond if necessary.
On May 5, Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said he held talks with Belarusian opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, warning that Russia is increasingly drawing Belarus into its war against Ukraine.
“Moscow is increasingly dragging Belarus into its war against Ukraine, turning it into a platform for aggression, not only against our country, but against Europe as a whole,” he said.