Ukraine scraps border checkpoint surveillance agreement with Belarus

March 1, BPN. Ukraine has withdrawn from an intergovernmental agreement on the surveillance of checkpoints at the shared border with Belarus, Taras Melnychuk, Ukraine’s government representative in Verkhovna Rada, said in his Telegram channel.

The agreement was signed in February 1995.

On February 21, Ukraine also withdrew from its double tax treaty with Belarus.

At the same time, the Ukrainian government says it has no intention to cut diplomatic relations with Belarus.

Kyiv does not want to provoke Minsk into engaging more actively in the war on Russia’s side, said Oleksiy Danilov of Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council.

Russia troops went into Ukraine from Belarus in February 2022 as part of a full-scale war against Ukraine. Alaksandr Łukašenka admitted that Belarus participated in Russia’s war on Ukraine, but said it was “not killing anyone.”

Authorities in Minsk denied Belarusian troops’ involvement in combat operations on the Russian side. However, Belarus allowed Russian troops and weapons to move freely through the country, use its airspace, refuel and store military equipment and attack Ukraine from its territory.