Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, the opposition leader of Belarus, is set to visit Washington, D.C. in coordination with the State Department later this month, three sources familiar with the trip tell The Daily Beast.
The visit of the former Soviet republic’s opposition leader is still in the planning stages, but is slated for the week of March 21 and is set to include meetings with Congress and the State Department, two Tsikhanouskaya advisers and a Democratic Senate aide told The Daily Beast.The visit is slated to last between the 21-27, and could be extended, Valery Kavaleuski, a foreign affairs representative for Belarus’ opposition, told The Daily Beast.
The planning of the trip comes as Belarusian opposition and activists have been ratcheting up their pressure campaign against Russian President Vladimir Putin and Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko—also known as Europe’s “last dictator”—and the use of Belarusian territory as a staging ground for the war in Ukraine, despite domestic disapproval of the war.
ADVERTISEMENT
Belarusian activists have been working to thwart Russia’s aggression since the early days of the conflict. But now that Lukashenko is doubling down in his willingness to let Putin barrel in, Belarusian saboteurs are recognizing Putin’s use of Belarus as a kind of hybrid occupation, and last week successfully attacked a Russian surveillance aircraft with a drone in an airfield in Belarus as part of an effort to escalate their operations.
The Belarusian partisan group that claimed responsibility for the attack, BYPOL, works with Tsikhanouskaya’s office. An adviser for the Belarusian opposition told The Daily Beast this week that the drone attack was considered “a big victory” that is part of a larger civil resistance plan, warning that “there are many other plans” to come. The hope, he explained, is that they can make Putin second-guess his strategy of using Belarus as a launchpad for war.
Tsikhanouskaya has been laying the groundwork to ratchet up a pressure campaign against Lukashenko ever since she opposed him in the 2020 Belarusian presidential election. Lukashenko claimed the contest as a victory, although the results of the election have faced widespread allegations of vote-rigging.
Tsikhanouskaya’s trip to Washington will primarily be aimed at shoring up support for preserving Belarusian independence and restoring democracy in Belarus—tasks which have become increasingly fraught as Lukashenko has let Putin ride roughshod over any resistance in Belarus to the war in Ukraine, Kavaleuski said. Part of that conversation will include a discussion of whether it will be possible to “de-recognize” Lukashenko as the leader of Belarus, Kavaleuski said.
“Our task is complicated by the fact that Lukashenko’s regime has dragged our country into the aggression against Ukraine, and our country now, under Lukashenko, is a material contributor to this war,” Kavaleuski told The Daily Beast. “But it not only threatens Ukraine and violates territorial integrity and sovereignty of Ukraine. It also creates a significant threat to our own independence. And this is the main driver for foreign policy at this point… we have to preserve the independence of the country.”
Game plan
According to Tsikhanouskaya’s team, the trip is also set to include engagements with the Belarusian diaspora surrounding Belarus’ Freedom Day, a day celebrating Belarus’ proclamation of the Belarusian People’s Republic in 1918, on March 25. Opposition leaders have previously rallied supporters to demonstrate against Lukashenko and pressure him to resign around this day.
Tsikhanouskaya previously visited the Biden administration in 2021 to try and crank up pressure against Lukashenko. During that trip, she met with President Joe Biden, Secretary of State Tony Blinken, Biden’s National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan, and several other U.S. officials.
Meetings for the trip slated for this month are not confirmed yet, although a meeting with the White House is “under discussion,” Kavaleuski said. A meeting may also take place with Blinken, Tsikhanouskaya’s camp said, although that isn’t confirmed yet either.
A State Department spokesperson confirmed the trip.
“The Department looks forward to welcoming Svyatlana Tsikhanouskaya and representatives of the Belarusian democratic forces and civil society to the United States later this month,” the spokesperson said, adding the visit “emphasizes the United States’ enduring support for a democratic, independent, and sovereign Belarus, and will be an opportunity for U.S. and Belarusian democratic leaders to discuss ongoing U.S. efforts to hold the Lukashenka regime accountable for continued repression as well as its complicity in Russia’s war against Ukraine.”
Belarusian opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya delivers a speech at the European Parliament in Strasbourg, France, Nov. 24, 2021.
Julien Warnand/Pool via ReutersThe Biden Administration remains supportive of Tsikhanouskaya’s efforts to shore up support for independence, a Biden administration official told The Daily Beast.
“We continue to support Belarus’ courageous democratic forces, led by Sviatlana Tskihanouskaya, and structures such as the United Transition Cabinet and Coordination Council, which seek to advance the democratic aspirations of the Belarusian people towards a democratic, sovereign, and prosperous future,” the official said.
While the White House doesn’t yet have meetings to announce and nothing is set in stone, senior White House officials are interested in meeting with Tsikhanouskaya on the upcoming trip, The Daily Beast has learned.
As a part of Tsikhanouskaya’s campaign against Lukashenko, she is also intent on rallying support for the establishment of an international coalition for democratic and independent Belarus, and is keen to discuss political-military issues, including further responses to Russia’s use of Belarus for the war against Ukraine, Kavaleuski said.
The urgency of that task grows by the day as Russia and Belarus coordinate joint military groupings in Belarus and run combat readiness drills in preparation for possible military action.
“We need to work on the steps to thwart these kinds of movements,” Kavaleuski said. “Until now, there hasn't been much of an international response to the activities of Russians on Belarusian soil and we need to make sure that this is assessed adequately. And the response to such hostile actions of Russians on our territory is that it must stop.”
Tsikhanouskaya will also likely be making the rounds through the halls of Congress to galvanize support, sources say.
“I’ve had the privilege of meeting with Ms. Tsikhanouskaya on a number of occasions and look forward to again welcoming her back to Washington,” Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), one of co-chairs and co-founders of the Free Belarus Caucus, told The Daily Beast.
“Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya’s leadership and influence have never been as important for Belarusian citizens as they are today with [Lukashenko] cozying up to Putin and endorsing Russia’s barbaric assault on Ukraine,” said Shaheen, Chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on Europe and Regional Security Cooperation.
The trip is aimed at getting to the top of the pile in Washington, D.C., Franak Viacorka, the chief political adviser to Tsikhanouskaya, told The Daily Beast. “This visit is important for us to get Belarus back on the agenda of the U.S. stakeholders and decision-makers. The meetings in Congress are very important because Congress decides on help on Ukraine and help to Belarus,” he said. “Support for Belarus and democratic resistance—it’s a must right now.”
Dangerous bond
While the war in Ukraine has added urgency to Tsikhanouskaya’s efforts to build ties with other world leaders, other concerns are bubbling up behind the scenes. The trip comes as advisers in Belarus’ opposition have grown concerned that Russia may view Belarus as a target, much like Ukraine.
Belarus and Russia have built a so-called “union state” relationship over the years that links together their societies, from their militaries to their banking sectors. And while Lukashenko has, in some ways, sought to maintain an element of independence from Putin, Lukashenko watchers have suggested that he may have lost all ability to act without influence from Putin in recent months, raising serious questions about the future of Belarus.
Posters at an event where Belarus opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya spoke to Belarusian diaspora, in London, Aug. 3, 2021.
Reuters/Peter NichollsAs Lukashenko’s power dwindles, the opposition told The Daily Beast it harbors concerns that Russia may seek to take over Belarus to gain better access to Latvia, Lithuania, and Poland. A recently leaked document from the Kremlin’s Directorate for Cross-Border Cooperation outlined plans in 2021 to annex Belarus by 2030.
In an attempt to prepare for a future without Lukashenko in complete control, the Belarusian opposition proposed to form an alliance with Ukraine for “joint action” last year, as The Daily Beast reported.
Concern is growing in Congress that Lukashenko has totally given up power to Putin, too.
In the last year, the world has seen “Lukashenko’s complete capitulation to his puppet master Putin amid his outrageous war against Ukraine,” Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL), a member of the Free Belarus Caucus, told The Daily Beast.
“The Belarusian people have suffered under Lukashenko’s tyrannical rule for far too long. I can recall visiting Minsk in early 2011 and meeting with the distraught families of candidates who’d had the temerity to compete against Lukashenko in the recent presidential election—only to find themselves thrown in a Belarusian gulag. Ten years later we saw another stolen election,” Durbin said.
The Biden administration could be doing more on Belarus, according to some. Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA), a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and of the Free Belarus Caucus, called on the Biden Administration to appoint an official charged with Belarus issues moving forward.
“The United States and the international community should continue working closely to hold Lukashenko’s authoritarian regime accountable while supporting Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya and other opposition members. Secretary Blinken should also appoint a Special Envoy to Belarus as a clear demonstration of our support for the Belarusian people,” Kaine said.
In the coming weeks, Shaheen said they will likely be ironing out a few crucial issues when it comes to Belarus, namely pushing back on Russian aggression, combating the rise of authoritarianism in Eastern Europe, and supporting pro-democracy movements.
“We cannot forget Belarus, and the pro-democratic aspirations of Belarusians, amid Putin’s illegal war in Ukraine,” Shaheen said. “Lukashenko is not a leader for Belarusians—he’s no more than a puppet for Putin.”
