Noisy Neighbours: How Belarus Is Turning A Blind Eye To Ukraine

If Ukraine's border issues were not enough to deal with on one front of the border that is directly resting with Russia, their issues have started to escalate even further. The Belarus border with Ukraine has started to heat up. The state of Belarus that borders Ukraine has allowed 30,000 Russian troops to enter and stand at guard. The Russian troops including hundreds of tanks is now stationed only few hours from Kiev, the Ukrainian capital, from the Belarus border side. The tensions between Ukraine and Russia are possibly at an all time high and Ukraine’s neighbour Belarus, that had parted with the Russian state formed from the USSR at the time of the latter’s collapse, around the same time as Ukraine to form their own country. The tensions with Ukraine have long been heated for long now, however, according to experts, war between both seems most eminent now. What was earlier threatening only the eastern border of Ukraine, now had also closed the gap from the northern Belarus border. The security threat lurking over Ukraine is way more complex than some border dispute. It has many layers to unfold that go deep in Ukraine and Russia’s history, their people’s history and the culture and conceptions held by people in both the nation states. The Russians have long believed that Ukraine is truly a part of the Russian state and should officially merge with it. The people of Ukraine are also torn in thought, while the people of eastern Ukraine are supporters of the Russian regime and heavily influenced by Russian culture and politics, the people of western Ukraine want it to remain an independent nation with its own identity and not to be merged with Russia under Putin. Russia’s constant efforts to coerce Ukraine into joining them have brought both tensions between the Russian and Ukrainian forces as well as have piqued the interest of western states. The United States of America led North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) is a group of countries that protects the interests, especially military and integral interest of each member, and any attempt on war on any single country would mean a war on all. Ukraine was keen on joining the NATO group of countries but after their 2010 presidential elections, the president many believe under the pressure of the Russian state and Putin, let go of the opportunity and kept the country non-aligned. Many believe any sort of connections or actions to join western groups by Ukraine seems like an infringement to the Russians and they thus apply political pressure to subvert any such decisions. It is also not uncommon for them to offer loans and oil at subsidised prices to lure Ukraine away from such alliances. Another reason why Russia has built pressure around Ukraine is said to be to protect its own conception of being the leader in the region, and especially of a motherland like figure in the case of Ukraine. Putin had also made demands to western alliances, that largely stated that they should stop expanding into eastern Europe, pull back any troops present in eastern Europe and that the United States should not be backing any of the nation states in the eastern European region militarily. The people of Russia too, believe that there are no differences between Russians and Ukrainian people, both have very similar culture and language, and have roots originating from the same regions historically. Another area where the lines between Russia and Ukraine get blurred is in naming. Often when it is just said Ukraine, in some Slavic languages it translates to ‘border state’ or ‘border regions’, and one has to specify to the nation state by saying ‘The Ukraine’. The region of Crimea, an autonomous peninsular region south of Ukraine was annexed by Russian forces in 2014. Russia sent its military forces and after claiming the region, said they would hold a referendum to know the people’s opinion on whether they wanted to join Russia or not. The voting did not have a neutral organisation monitor its validity, and according to the Russian side, over 90% people voted to become a part of the Russian state with a voter turnover of over 80%. The protection of Ukraine goes far and beyond the border, military, or any other security threat. What had started out as military exercises and practices, has now come to the brink of actual war after years of persuasion and back and forth of various kinds among various international players. When we look at it through the ontological lens, it can be seen in a different light than what is apparent. Russia might be trying to secure its personal or self-perception which it holds much above the physical security. The border tension, if is to escalate to war would only cost them more than they could possibly gain even if they win. The current situation can be seen as an attempt to secure its perception of security, not only physical but that of it being an ideational concern of being a superior state of the region as well.