Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has given Belarus a one-week ultimatum to remove relay equipment on its territory that he says is helping Russia attack Ukraine, warning that Kyiv will otherwise intervene itself to halt the transmissions.
In a social media post on Friday night, Zelenskyy directly urged his Belarusian counterpart, Alexander Lukashenko, to “remove that equipment.”
“I think a week is enough for him to do that. … If he doesn’t do it, we will,” Zelenskyy said.
Zelenskyy added that “Russia will keep pushing him further into this war,” but that the Belarusian president now “understands that Ukraine will respond.”
Kyiv’s pressure on Minsk is not limited to the relay equipment that, according to Zelenskyy, “adjusts fire on our people.”
Ukraine’s leader also criticized Lukashenko over his country’s oil-refining sector, arguing that “today, Belarus is one of the key suppliers for the Russian army.”
This is not the first time Kyiv has denounced Russia’s use of Belarusian territory to launch attacks against Ukraine or countries supporting it.
Zelenskyy warned in mid-May that Moscow was “considering plans for operations to the south and north of Belarusian territory” either against Ukraine “or against one of the NATO countries.”
Belarus’ support for Russian President Vladimir Putin’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine has been documented since the early stages of the war, when Moscow’s forces used Belarusian territory to launch missile and drone attacks against Ukraine.
But Belarus stopped short of deploying its own troops, a move that would have made it a direct participant in the conflict.
Russia’s most recent alleged plans to attack Ukraine from Belarusian territory prompted Kyiv to strengthen defenses along its northern border, including concrete barriers to stop armored vehicles and anti-tank ditches, according to the Guardian.
Lukashenko said in an interview with Al Arabiya on June 15 that Belarus does not pose a threat to Ukraine. He also apologized to Zelenskyy for previous remarks. “But when I started to be threatened, I had to answer,” Lukashenko said.