Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko delivers a speech at the forum “Great Heritage – Shared Future” during a Russo-Belarusian meeting dedicated to the anniversary of the Battle of Stalingrad in Volgograd, Russia, on April 29, 2025. Getty Images/Contributor
According to Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine
On September 15, 2025, in Minsk, the president of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko, held a meeting with a representative of the occupying Russian administration that temporarily controls part of the Kherson region. An official comment on the event was published by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, describing the meeting as yet another display of contempt for Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, its people, and the status of Ukrainian territories. The information was published on the official website of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The ministry stressed that contacts with the occupying structures contravene international law and harm Belarus as a state that effectively cooperates with aggression against Ukraine.
It is noted that any agreements with occupying regimes remain null and void under international law and may lead to tougher sanctions and further isolation of the aggressor country on the world stage.
Ukraine reserves the right to take appropriate actions and to tighten sanctions in order to minimize the impact of such steps on international policy and security.
MFA Comment and Ukraine’s Official Position
“It is shameful not only the fact of the meeting, but also Lukashenko’s statements about the occupied part ofKherson region as a so-called ‘new region’ of Russia, ready to contribute to strengthening the occupying regime and to develop trade with the occupiers.”
“It is particularly bewildering Lukashenko’s delusion that he is a ‘Soviet man,’ for whom Ukraine and Kherson region are ‘also his land.’ We remind you that the USSR has been in the dustbin of history for more than three decades. Sooner or later, the two nostalgic, unrecognized figures who met today in Minsk will also be sent there. By contrast, Ukraine has been, is, and will be whole within internationally recognized borders.”
Ultimately, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine emphasizes that Ukraine does not recognize the legitimacy of any steps to treat the occupied regions as part of its sovereignty and calls on the international community to support Ukraine’s sovereignty and its territorial integrity.
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