The Belarusian Foreign Ministry said that the Ukrainian ambassador and an additional four diplomats would be permitted to stay in the country, Reuters reported. Those who are leaving must do so within 72 hours, the ministry said.
Belarus is one of the only nations that have maintained ties with Russia since it launched its attack on Ukraine late last month. The decision to expel the diplomats came after KGB, the Belarusian security service, accused eight Ukrainian diplomats of espionage on Tuesday, Reuters reported.
The Ukrainian presidential office said Sunday that there was a high risk that an attack on the Volyn region in western Ukraine could be launched from Belarus. Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, a top ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, has allowed Russia to use Belarusian land as a staging area for its attack on Ukraine.
The Belarusian Foreign Ministry did not say exactly how many diplomats would be forced to leave, only specifying the number that would be allowed to stay.
In a translated statement, it attributed the decision to expel the diplomats to direct and indirect interference by Ukrainian authorities in Belarus’s internal affairs.
The statement, attributed to ministry spokesperson Anatoly Glaz, said that since 2020, Belarus has “recorded numerous unfriendly actions by Ukraine aimed at the irresponsible destruction of interstate relations with our country, business contacts and long-established ties between people.”
In addition to the interference, the statement said that Ukraine called Belarus an “enemy country” in 2021 and paused contact between the states. Belarus also became aware of “activities” that were “incompatible with diplomatic status” by employees of the Ukrainian embassy and consulate in the nation, the statement said.
Ukraine took these and other “destructive actions” while Belarus “even in the most difficult times did not take a single anti-Ukrainian step,” according to the statement.
Glaz decried what he described as Ukraine’s “boorish” treatment of Belarusian diplomats and their families at the Mogilev-Podolsky checkpoint, the confiscation of property and actions against innocent Belarusian citizens who involuntarily found themselves in the conflict zone.
“All these are cynical attempts to kindle hatred between peoples, to transfer political strife to ordinary people. We will never allow this,” the statement read.
Glaz stressed that Ukraine “has been and remains brotherly” to Belarus. He announced that Ukrainians and citizens of other foreign states trying to flee the war zone would be permitted to enter Belarus from Ukraine, remain there and then depart visa-free until April 15.
“We hope that this will facilitate the safe return of these citizens to their countries of residence, allowing many to reunite with their relatives both in Belarus and abroad,” the statement read.
Newsweek reached out to the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry for comment but did not hear back by publication time.
Update 3/23/22, 12:01 p.m. ET: This story was updated with additional information and background.
