Foreign Minister of Ukraine Stated a War Risk between Russia and Belarus

Belarus and Russia will start a war in case Belarusian authorities decide to fight for their independence, stated Ukrainian Foreign Minister Vadym Priestayko in an interview with the Czech publication Respekt, published on February 17. “Belarus is going through a difficult time. A few years ago I spoke with several Belarusian journalists and told them that if they want to remain independent they will face the same war, the same difficulties and the same sufferings as we did, but they did not believe me,” Pristayko said. Nevertheless, the Ukrainian Foreign Minister emphasized that he hopes his forecast is to be a wrong one, noting that Belarusians are “calm and patient.” On February 12, Bloomberg published material which stated that in December 2019, Russian President Vladimir Putin allegedly invited his Belarusian counterpart Alexander Lukashenko to sign an agreement on the unification of Russia and Belarus. Lukashenko later denied this information. On January 26, 2000, the treaty, establishing the Union State between Russia and Belarus entered into force. On September 16, 2019, the media published the details of the two countries integration project. The document provides for a single Tax and Civil Codes; the unification of the customs and energy sectors of states; the creation of a unified system of property accounting; mutual access to public procurement.