Ukrainian Maidan activists are concerned about the close relations between Belarus and Russia
Belarus does not support Ukraine’s position regarding the ownership of Crimea, and is conducting large-scale military exercises with its ally Russia - all these steps indicate real threats to Kyiv and the impossibility of a strategic partnership with Minsk.
This opinion was expressed by Oleg Belokolos, a representative of the Maidan of Foreign Affairs Foundation, at the International Conference “25 Years of Ukrainian-Belarusian Dialogue: Prospects for Bilateral Relations in Times of Global Challenges.”
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“Democracy, values, human rights – these are all well-known things. We must act extremely pragmatically regarding our closest neighbor. In this regard, I cannot help but mention the position of official Minsk in 2014 regarding the declaration of the UN General Assembly on the territorial integrity of Ukraine. How can we seriously talk about strategic partnership with a country that did not support the territorial integrity of its neighbor?” he said.
“Our policy of joining NATO in Minsk is seen as a threat. This must be clearly understood,” added the Ukrainian Maidan activist.
Belarus has repeatedly stated that it will act within the framework of its priority obligations, first of all, obligations within the Union State and the CSTO.
“In this regard, for specialists and experts, there should be no questions about the existence of a threat from the territory of Belarus. On November 2, the next joint meeting of the boards of the Ministries of Defense of Belarus and Russia took place. Even from the press releases released by Moscow, it is clear that serious things were discussed - plans for exercises on the territory of both Belarus and Russia, “Zapad-2017” for 2017. I drew attention to the following phrase: “the main goal of the exercise is to work out the tasks of planning, managing and using a regional grouping of forces.” Again, for specialists these are extremely clear and precise formulations,” says the Maidan activist.
According to him, Ukraine’s task is to adhere to the principle of the priority of human rights in relations with other countries (including Belarus).
“If Ukraine consistently adheres to the priority of human rights in foreign policy, this will make our policy understandable and predictable. This will allow us to build our relationships with our allies and partners, which allow us today to repel Russian aggression,” he said.
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