On 15 September, Alexander Lukashenko received in Minsk a representative of the Russian occupation administration of the temporarily occupied territories of the Kherson region of Ukraine.

With this step, Alexander Lukashenko once again demonstrated his gross disregard for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine and the entire Ukrainian people. Not only is the meeting itself shameful, but so are the statements about the occupied part of the Kherson region as a supposed ‘new region’ of Russia, the willingness to contribute to the strengthening of the occupation regime and to develop trade with the occupiers.

We remind that, in accordance with international law, any deals with occupation regimes are null and void and will have negative consequences for Belarus as a state. Ukraine reserves the right to respond appropriately in order to strengthen sanctions and deepen the international isolation of the Belarusian regime for its illegal actions contrary to numerous UN General Assembly resolutions, in particular the resolution of 12 October 2022 "Territorial integrity of Ukraine. Protection of the Principles of the UN Charter," which was supported by 143 member states of the United Nations.

Alexander Lukashenko's delusions that he is a ‘Soviet man’ for whom Ukraine and Kherson ‘are also his land’ are particularly surprising. We remind that the USSR has been in the dustbin of history for more than three decades. Sooner or later the two nostalgic, unrecognised figures who met today in Minsk will also end up there. Ukraine, on the other hand, has been, is and will remain intact within its internationally recognised borders.