Why did Ukraine sanction Lukashenko only now and what signal does it send?
Belarusian propagandists have suddenly erupted in a wave of hatred towards both Ukraine and President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. The reason is simple: sanctions imposed on Belarus’s self-proclaimed president, Alexander Lukashenko.
Read more about why Ukraine introduced these sanctions and what message they send in the column by Ukraine’s Presidential Commissioner for Sanctions Policy, Vladyslav Vlasiuk: Punishing Lukashenko: what lies behind the sanctions against Putin’s ally.
The author emphasises that Ukraine had long left room for maneuver, refraining from this step until the very end.
Vlasiuk recalls that sanctions were not imposed even in 2022, when Lukashenko’s support in facilitating Russia’s full-scale invasion became evident.
"But the second half of 2025 demonstrated that Lukashenko is weak. Weak because he obeys Putin rather than his own people. Hence all these actions carried out at Russia’s behest.
Transmitters on Belarusian territory that helped guide drone attacks on northern Ukraine in real time, and the deployment of the 'Oreshnik' missile system in Belarus are no longer 'indirect support', but direct participation in an armed conflict," writes the Presidential Commissioner for Sanctions Policy.
He stresses that international law leaves no grey areas here: "Article 3 of the UN General Assembly Resolution clearly defines that the action of a State in allowing its territory, which it has placed at the disposal of another State, to be used by that other State for perpetrating an act of aggression against a third State. In the case of Belarus, this is exactly what we have."
Vlasiuk underscores that Belarus’s territory has effectively been turned into an infrastructural component of Russia’s war machine, threatening all of Europe.
He also points out that Belarus has been systematically used as a hub for circumventing sanctions, with its enterprises integrated into Russia’s defence industry. Belarusian circuit boards have been found in Russian missiles. Logistical and financial flows passing through Belarusian jurisdiction help the Kremlin sustain the war.
"Another dimension is the facilitation of filtration camps for Ukrainians in 2022 and the abduction of Ukrainian children," the Presidential Commissioner adds.
For all these reasons, Vlasiuk explains, 2026 marked the beginning of a gradual but firm correction in Kyiv’s policy towards the Belarusian authorities.
He adds that perceptions of Lukashenko are also changing in Europe. Notably, on 15 December 2025, the European Union introduced a new sanctions criterion targeting individuals and companies that support Belarus’s actions undermining security and stability in the EU.
The reason for this move was a series of systematic incidents involving weather balloons that posed risks to critical infrastructure, including Vilnius Airport.
"Even within the EU, there is growing recognition that the problem is not local. The European Union is also prepared to increase pressure on Minsk.
That is why Ukraine expects an 'alignment' of EU sanctions regimes against Russia and Belarus, including full synchronisation of both import and export bans," the author notes.
According to him, the ten-year sanctions against Lukashenko are neither a "punitive measure" nor a "symbolic step," but rather a formal acknowledgment of his role as a co-aggressor in the war against Ukraine.