The Taliban, North Korea, Myanmar. Belarus’s foreign policy

Yesterday, whilst Belarusian President Aljaksandr Lukashenka was extending his best wishes to Ukraine on the occasion of its 35th anniversary of independence, an Afghan delegation was visiting Belarus to discuss trade, investment and potential industrial agreements. The Taliban visited the National Academy of Sciences in Minsk, the Belarusian car manufacturer BelAZ, and various grain processing and storage companies, chemical fertiliser production plants, and facilities for processing food, dairy products, sugar, meat and spices. Belarusian propaganda media carefully avoided reporting the news, but photos of the Afghan delegation were published by the Taliban themselves, who had arrived with the aim of gaining legitimacy. The visit by the thirteen-member delegation, led by the Islamic Emirate’s Minister of Agriculture, Irrigation and Livestock, “represents an important step towards strengthening economic and trade ties between the two countries”, according to an article in the Kabul Times. A similar attempt to cover up the visit had been made regarding the summer holiday of the Belarusian Foreign Minister, Maxim Ryzhenkov, in North Korea. His stay in Pyongyang between 6 and 20 August was pieced together from social media posts linked to the Belarusian Foreign Ministry and the absence of the minister from public appearances. A few days ago, Ryzhenkov himself confirmed this, announcing the imminent agreement on the abolition of visas between the two countries: “As the President says, even whilst on holiday a public official should continue to work, so I had a meeting with the Foreign Minister of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea,” he said.

Last week, Lukashenka also received the former leader of the Burmese junta, Min Aung Hlaing, who has just been elected president in an attempt to give the Myanmar regime a civilian veneer. The Minsk regime is one of the main supporters and funders of the Burmese military junta, alongside Russia and China, and Min Aung Hlaing and Lukashenka signed nine agreements on technology transfer, the agro-industrial sector, the pharmaceutical sector and the leather goods sector. An agreement was also signed to open an assembly plant, and topics were discussed “which cannot be expressed or discussed publicly”, said Lukashenka, which most likely refers to weapons to continue repressing the Burmese people and clashes with his subsequent statement, namely that Minsk “possesses all the necessary technology to help, train and provide the Burmese people with everything they need today and in the future”.

Lukashenka’s foreign policy is crystal clear, and despite his attempts to demonstrate his willingness to engage in dialogue with Kyiv in order to secure the lifting of sanctions, his international ties reveal an unbreakable alliance with Vladimir Putin – and that is not all. Yesterday, the governor of the Russian Arkhangelsk Oblast, Alexander Tsybulsky, met Lukashenka in the Belarusian capital to discuss the construction of a deep-water port, proposing that it be used for the transport of goods. “For better or worse, our capabilities have recently grown in relation to Russia,” said Lukashenka. “Today we are forced to stand on the front line alongside you. There is no escape. Belarus’s importance is growing because of the events unfolding around us.”