Tsikhanouskaya and Zelenskyy met in Kyiv

Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy met in Kyiv during the International Summit of Cities and Regions.

Listing the forum guests, Zelenskyy noted during his speech that Belarus is participating in such a format for the first time. He joked.

"Lukashenka said it's time for the presidents of Ukraine and Belarus to meet," he paused and looked at the hall, smiling. "And it turned out interestingly: Lukashenka said it, but Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya arrived. Glad to see you, Sviatlana!".

Павялічыць

Tsikhanouskaya delivered a speech immediately after Zelenskyy. She was introduced as the head of the United Transitional Cabinet.

"It is a great honor for me to be here, in Kyiv, with you. Today Ukraine inspires the whole world," Tsikhanouskaya began her speech.

She noted that Ukraine is fighting not only for itself, but "for all nations that have lived too long in the shadow of the empire," and is paying a huge price for it.

"We, Belarusians, also bear responsibility for what is happening in Ukraine. But I ask you to distinguish between Lukashenka's criminal regime, which serves Russia, and the Belarusian people, who stand with Ukraine.

Many Belarusians are already helping Ukraine — as volunteers on the battlefield, as partisans sabotaging Russian troops, and by donating money to the Ukrainian army.

And Belarusians will also be ready to help in the reconstruction of Ukraine. (…)

But the most important thing that Belarus can and must give to Ukraine in the future is security. A guarantee that more than a thousand kilometers of the shared border will be safe. That Belarus will never again become a staging ground for aggression. That Russian tanks will never again move through Belarus towards Chernihiv, Zhytomyr, Rivne, or Kyiv."

Tsikhanouskaya noted that she believes Ukraine will also help Belarusians first dismantle the dictatorship, and then rebuild the country after 30 years of dictatorship.

She also expressed admiration for Zelenskyy's courage. "When the war started, you stayed with your people instead of giving up. You showed the difference between a leader who stands with his nation and a dictator who betrays his country for the benefit of a foreign empire to save himself."

Later, Tsikhanouskaya and Zelenskyy met behind closed doors. Tsikhanouskaya's advisors Franak Viačorka and Dzianis Kučynski, and her deputy in the Cabinet Pavieł Łatuška, were also present.

They discussed issues of cooperation with Belarusian democratic forces (creation of an interdepartmental group and appointment of a special representative for Belarus to solve specific problems) and sanctions pressure on the regime. Tsikhanouskaya noted: Ukraine understands that Lukashenka is a co-aggressor, and will never forgive him for this.

"The visit to Ukraine is a very clear political message [from Ukraine] that we see Belarus as free, democratic, and secure, and we are ready to help Belarusians achieve this goal," said Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya. "I do not see any desire from the Ukrainian side to politically engage with Lukashenka's regime."

They also discussed problems with the legalization of Belarusians living in Ukraine. Zelenskyy, according to Tsikhanouskaya, assigned the task to deal with this.

During the meeting, Tsikhanouskaya also raised the issue of Kalinoŭcy members who have been in captivity since June 2022 — these are Yan "Trombli" Dziurbeika and Siarhei "Kleshch" Dzyohtseu. Their names were included in Ukrainian lists for prisoner exchange back in July 2022, but the Russian side refuses to hand over the Belarusians.

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