Kyiv recalled its ambassador from Minsk as Belarus crisis deepened
A look back at 18 August 2020, when Lithuania moved to sanction Belarus and Ukraine was weighing its own relations with its neighbour.
How did Ukraine respond to the turmoil that followed Belarus's presidential election? By 18 August 2020, Kyiv had already taken a visible step: on 17 August it recalled its ambassador to Belarus to assess what it called "the new reality" and the prospects for relations between the two neighbouring countries.
On 18 August 2020, attention turned to Vilnius. Lithuanian MPs approved economic sanctions against Belarus over the contested presidential elections. Lithuanian Foreign Minister Linas Linkevičius said the country was sending a strong message to the world, and that Lithuania refused to recognise Alexander Lukashenko as president.
The backdrop in Minsk
Two days earlier, on 16 August, Lukashenko had addressed supporters in Independence Square in Minsk. In a defiant speech he claimed that Belarus would die as a state if new elections were held, and accused NATO of massing on the border. Opposition critics said most of those at the rally had been coerced into attending and bussed in from other parts of the country.
The sequence of events showed neighbouring governments choosing different tools within a few days of one another. Ukraine pulled back its envoy to reassess, while Lithuania's parliament voted for sanctions and its foreign minister declined to recognise Lukashenko as president.
