January 26, Pozirk. Volodymyr Zelensky and Belarusian opposition leader Śviatłana Cichanoŭskaja held their first bilateral talks in Vilnius yesterday after both participated in the January Uprising commemoration events.
The Belarusian politician expressed full support on behalf of the Belarusian people for Ukrainians fighting for freedom and praised the exceptional personal leadership of Zelensky, her office reported.
Cichanoŭskaja noted Ukrainian president’s support of democratic Belarus and dinstinguishing between the Belarusian people and the regime.
She thanked Zelensky and his team for receiving the last group of released Belarusian dissidents in December 2025. The parties also discussed prisoner releases, next steps and Ukraine’s readiness to provide similar support in the future.
Other discussion topics included sanctions policy, joint strategy with European and American partners and bringing Alaksandar Łukašenka to justice for human righs abuses, including for forced transfers of Ukrainian children.
Cichanoŭskaja proposed the appointment of a special envoy to Belarus and advocated closer cooperation with the Belarusian pro-democracy forces’ mission in Kyiv.
Zelensky invited the Belarusian opposition leader to visit Ukraine.
Although the politicians had met several times before at international events, their encounters were mostly limited to greetings.
