A group of deputies from the parties "European Solidarity" Petro Poroshenko and "Golos" submitted to the Verkhovna Rada a bill on "termination of any diplomatic relations" between Kiev and Minsk, with the exception of issues that relate to "refugees and political prisoners."
This is stated in the materials of the Ukrainian parliament.
The full text of the document was published on his Facebook page by one of the authors of the initiative, a deputy from Eurosolidarity Alexei Goncharenko.
It says that Kiev refuses to recognize the results of the last August presidential elections and condemns the violence against protesters.
In addition, it is argued that the "Belarusian regime" allegedly poses a threat to international security due to interaction "with terrorist organizations in the temporarily occupied territories of certain areas of Donetsk and Luhansk regions."
"Ukraine should completely stop diplomatic relations with the Lukashenka regime and not officially recognize him as the president of Belarus ... Our state must end double-digit relations with the Lukashenka regime," Goncharenko wrote in a commentary on the bill.
We will remind, on June 16, he sent a deputy appeal to the Prosecutor General of Ukraine Irina Venediktova with a request to initiate a criminal case against the President of Belarus "for cooperation with terrorists."
“De facto, this means that Alyaksandr Lukashenka, who seized and retains power in Belarus, recognized the terrorist“ republics ”.
Our reaction must be sharp and understandable.
This is an encroachment on our territorial integrity! "
- says Goncharenko.
The reason for the criminal prosecution of Alexander Lukashenko, according to the Ukrainian deputy, should be the investigative actions that, with the permission of Minsk, were carried out by the law enforcement agencies of the Lugansk People's Republic against Roman Protasevich, the founder of the Telegram channel NEXTA (recognized as extremist in Belarus -
RT
).
Detained at the end of May, Protasevich took part in hostilities in Donbass as part of the Azov battalion.
On June 16, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine condemned Minsk for permitting investigative actions carried out by representatives of the LPR in relation to Protasevich.
As the speaker of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the republic Oleg Nikolenko told Interfax-Ukraine, Kiev will take this incident into account "when our state makes further decisions to protect the interests of national security."
“The report on the conduct of investigative actions in Belarus should be considered in the context of the RF attempts to provide at least some pseudo-personality to the illegal groups subordinate to it ... On the instructions of Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba, the Ukrainian Embassy in Minsk turned to the Belarusian authorities for official explanations,” Nikolenko is quoted as saying agency.
"Another round of exacerbation"
As stated by a RT source in the Verkhovna Rada, at present, official Kiev has indeed been overwhelmed by a new wave of claims against Minsk.
According to him, Ukraine seeks to act in the wake of the policy of Western countries, which are increasing pressure on the Belarusian authorities.
“The Rada has long thought about terminating all relations with Belarus, and what is happening now is undoubtedly another round of aggravation.
The initiative comes from the nationalists.
Their interests coincide with the interests of the authorities, which thus seek to demonstrate to the West “concern” for democratic values, ”the deputy said.
Note that on June 18, in an interview with "Censor.NET" * Deputy Head of the National Police of Ukraine Maksim Tsutskiridze said that law enforcement officers continue to check the so-called Belarusian trace in the murder of journalist Pavel Sheremet.
The explosion site of the car of journalist Pavel Sheremet
Reuters
© Valentyn Ogirenko / File
In particular, the department sent inquiries to the United States, Lithuania, Belarus and the Russian Federation to confirm or deny this version.
True, what is the essence of these requests, Tsutskiridze did not specify.
Let us remind you that the hypothesis about Minsk's involvement is based on the recordings that got into the media through the former Belarusian special forces, oppositionist Igor Makar.
The ex-officer of the special forces claims that the officials of the KGB of Belarus are discussing plans to eliminate Lukashenka's opponents, including Sheremet.
However, to date, it has not been possible to establish either the authenticity of the tapes, or the identity of the people whose voices are recorded on them.
According to experts, after the incident with the arrest of Protasevich, the Ukrainian authorities are constantly trying to find new reasons for claims against Minsk.
For example, on June 17, in an interview with the YouTube project "Rumor has it," the head of the Ukrainian delegation to the Trilateral Contact Group (TCG) Leonid Kravchuk said that the representatives of Kiev were not going to come to Minsk for negotiations on Donbass anymore.
The first president of Ukraine stressed that the Ukrainian delegation can visit the capital of Belarus only after the election of a new head of state.
"Well, it is impossible for a country where the self-proclaimed president uses repressive dictatorial methods of government ... in this situation, the country cannot be a platform (for negotiations. -
RT
)," Kravchuk said.
The politician also expressed dissatisfaction with the upcoming Russian-Belarusian strategic command-staff exercises "West-2021" in September, which will be held at the training grounds of both countries.
“Military exercises will be held in September.
And with such an accumulation of Russian troops here, in the region of Donbass and Crimea, the exercises can be unpredictable and dangerous for Ukraine from a military point of view.
We must be ready for anything, ”said Kravchuk.
President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko and Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky
Reuters
© Ukrainian Presidential Press Service / Handout
In an interview with RT, RANEPA teacher Sergei Margulis noted that in Ukraine they seriously fear a military-political rapprochement between Moscow and Minsk, although the behavior of Kiev itself contributed to this process to a large extent.
“As a result, Ukraine received a deepening of relations between Russia and Belarus in all areas, including in the military sphere.
This interaction, in my opinion, is developing very effectively, ”Margulis said.
As emphasized, in turn, by a RT source in the office of the President of Ukraine, the logic of Zelensky's policy is to prevent rapprochement between Moscow and Minsk precisely by increasing political pressure on the “Lukashenka regime”.
“The rapprochement between Belarus and Russia naturally raises great concerns.
Therefore, Ukraine prefers to be proactive - initiates sanctions, constantly makes harsh statements, ”says the Ukrainian politician.
Risks and consequences
According to Vladimir Olenchenko, senior researcher at the Center for European Studies, IMEMO RAN, at present, the tactics of Ukrainian diplomacy in the Belarusian direction are, first of all, to support the West's constant attacks against Lukashenka.
In a conversation with RT, the expert emphasized that in reality Kiev is not ready to break off diplomatic and economic relations with Belarus.
“The appeals that have been heard in Ukraine lately contain more propaganda than real content.
It seems that these proposals are initiated from the outside or are caused by the exaltation of Ukrainian politicians, their incompetence and an overwhelming level of radicalism, ”says Olenchenko.
According to him, Kiev's behavior towards Minsk is contrary to the interests and needs of Ukraine.
According to Olenchenko's forecast, further degradation of Ukrainian-Belarusian relations could lead to "dramatic consequences" for Kiev.
From the point of view of the RT source in the Batkivshchyna party, the most sensitive "retaliation" for Ukraine may be the actual recognition by Minsk of the sovereignty of the self-proclaimed people's republics.
According to the deputy, by allowing LPR law enforcement officers to interrogate Protasevich, the Belarusian authorities took a step in this direction.
“In political terms, the aggravation of relations with Belarus only harms Ukraine.
It cannot be ruled out that Minsk may agree to the recognition of the DPR and LPR and toughen the rules of entry for Ukrainians in response to the ban on flying through Belarus.
The Ukrainian leadership is creating problems out of the blue, ”the RT interlocutor complained.
Sergei Margulis, on the contrary, believes that the main troubles await Kiev in the economic sphere.
The expert recalled the significant dependence of Ukraine on the supply of oil products from Belarusian refineries.
“Belarus is one of the leading trade partners of Ukraine.
If Minsk begins to curtail economic relations, this will a priori lead to extremely negative consequences for Kiev, in particular for the fuel and energy sector.
After all, the main problem of Ukraine is its dependence on the import of oil products from Belarus, ”explained Margulis.
In his opinion, following in the mainstream of Western politics, Ukraine is driving into a dead end the once mutually beneficial relations with another CIS state, in addition to the Russian Federation.
“A direct severance of diplomatic relations with Belarus is hardly possible.
Moreover, Ukraine did not agree to this with Russia.
And the reasons for this are the understanding of the catastrophic nature of the accompanying risks and consequences, ”concluded Margulis.
* "Censor.NET" is an Internet resource, the materials of which are recognized as extremist and banned on the territory of Russia (decision of the Kirovsky District Court of Volgograd dated 09/04/2015).