Belarus, a close ally of Russia, has supported its eastern neighbour in the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Before the start of the offensive, Belarus allowed the Russian Armed Forces to perform weeks-long military drills on its territory; however, the Russian troops did not exit the country after they were supposed to finish. Belarus allowed Russia to stage part of the invasion from its territory, giving Russia the shortest possible land route to Ukraine's capital, Kyiv. However, these forces withdrew within two months, thus ceasing land-based military operations originating from Belarus and resulting in the recapture of the Ukrainian side of the border region by Ukraine. Despite this, the situation along the border remains tense, with Ukraine closing the border checkpoints leading into Belarus, bar special cases.
Belarus initially denied involvement with the conflict, but has since admitted to allowing Russian missile launchers stationed on its territory to shoot at Ukrainian targets. Several reports emerged among the Belarusian opposition and Ukrainian military that Belarusian troops were in Ukraine fighting together with Russians, but Belarus's leader Aleksander Lukashenko dismissed them and said that the Belarusian Armed Forces (BAF) would not participate directly in the conflict. As of early 2023, the BAF have not been involved in fighting against Ukraine and have remained on the territory of Belarus during the entire course of the conflict. The Belarusian leader has stated that there would be "no way" he would send soldiers into Ukraine unless attacked first.
According to the Ukrainian foreign ministry, Lukashenko has assured Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the start of the invasion that he will not to involve his nation's armed forces on the side of Russia. The former stated in early 2023 that Ukraine had offered to formalize this arrangement with a non-aggression pact.
The involvement of Belarus was condemned in Western countries, with the European Union, the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, and Japan imposing sanctions against Belarus. According to Chatham House, Belarus's participation in the military conflict is unpopular among the general population; protests were held on 27 February, the day of the constitutional referendum which asked to revoke Belarus's non-nuclear country status, but were quickly dispersed. Hackers have targeted Belarusian government agencies as well as the country's critical infrastructure, with the aim of disrupting the Russian war effort in Belarus.
In the early days of the invasion, Belarus was also involved in peace initiatives, holding Russo-Ukrainian talks on its border. Despite some preliminary agreements, however, the talks did not result in a lasting ceasefire.
Background
Belarus is located to the north of Ukraine, with which it shares a -long border. Its proximity to the Ukrainian capital Kyiv is considered to be of major strategic value. Both modern states were created in the aftermath of the October Revolution in 1917 in the form of the Belarusian Democratic Republic and the Ukrainian People's Republic, which following Soviet conquest of these territories were reestablished as the Byelorussian and Ukrainian SSRs in 1919 before unifying with Soviet Russia to form the Soviet Union in 1922. The current borders were established after World War II when the Soviet Union acquired western parts of Belarus and Ukraine from interwar Poland and Hungary and have remained the same since, even once the two republics became independent countries in 1991 with the dissolution of the Soviet Union.
In January and February 2022, Russian troops came into Belarus to participate in military drills. On 16 February, Minister of Foreign Affairs Vladimir Makei claimed that Russian soldiers would leave Belarus after training ended, a statement later rejected by the Ministry of Defense, who claimed that they would remain "for an unknown period of time". The number of Russian troops that would remain in Belarus was estimated to be at around 30,000. It was also speculated that Belarus could host Russian nuclear weaponry.
The former version of the Constitution of Belarus stipulated the country was neutral. However, Belarus held a constitutional referendum on 27 February 2022, which was declared to have passed with 65% support. As one of the changes, Belarus revoked its neutral and non-nuclear status. Lukashenko later clarified that he would request Russia to bring nuclear weapons if NATO moved to bring them to Poland or Lithuania, the country's western neighbours.