Finnish foreign minister: before death Makiej feared Russia would annex Belarus

March 1, BPN. Before his sudden death in November 2022, Belarusian Foreign Minister Uładzimir Makiej feared that Russia would annex Belarus, like it did eastern Ukraine, Finnish Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto said in an interview with Iltalehti.

He said the conversation with Makiej took place after Russian President Vladimir Putin declared the annexation of four regions of Ukraine – Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia – on September 30, 2022.

“He was very concerned about whether Belarus would become the fifth [region],” Haavisto said, noting that he found these words of Makiej interesting, because from the outside it seems that Belarus supports Russia “on everything.”

Haavisto also noted that “Makiej had sweat on his forehead” when he said that “no-one knows who will be next.” 

According to Haavisto, after Russia had started the full-scale invasion, he communicated with the Belarusian foreign minister to understand its attitude towards Russia and the war. Contacts with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov had been frozen. Haavisto last spoke with Lavrov at a meeting of OSCE foreign ministers in Stockholm in December 2021.

Haavisto opined that although Belarus’ support for Russia appears to be intense, it “has reservations.” In particular, he noted that Belarus still has not sent its forces to Ukraine.

Uładzimir Makiej died suddenly on November 26, 2022 – two days before his meeting with Lavrov. No official cause of death was given.

In February, media reported that Russia had developed a strategy to take over Belarus by 2030. The strategy paper was reportedly drafted by the Kremlin, Foreign Intelligence Service, Federal Security Service, General Staff and other security agencies. Alaksandr Łukašenka said the document might be real, but played down its significance.