On 19 June, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky issued a public ultimatum to Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko: remove signal relay stations positioned along the Belarus-Ukraine border within one week, or Ukrainian forces would destroy them. Speaking at a joint press conference with Honduran President Nasry Asfura in Kyiv, Zelensky stated that the equipment, located in two Belarusian regions, was being used by Russian forces to correct fire on Ukrainian civilians. “If he doesn’t do it, we’ll do it,” he said, without detailing the means.

The demand was framed as a test of Lukashenko’s repeated assertions that Minsk does not wish to be drawn into the war. Zelensky argued that allowing Russian forces to operate such infrastructure from Belarusian soil contradicted those claims, and he further accused Belarus of becoming a principal supplier of fuel to the Russian military following Ukrainian strikes on Russian oil facilities. Minsk has not formally responded to the ultimatum. In recent weeks, Lukashenko has both apologised for earlier harsh remarks about Zelensky and insisted that Belarus would only enter the conflict if attacked. Following a 17 June drone strike on a bus carrying Belarusian children through Russia’s Bryansk region—which killed a woman and injured six children—Lukashenko labelled the attack “open fascism” and said Kyiv had not taken responsibility. A Belarusian parliamentarian, Oleg Gaidukevich, dismissed Zelensky’s threat as an attempt to prolong the conflict and drag Europe into war, asserting that Minsk would not be provoked.

Viewed from Moscow, the ultimatum was characterised as a deliberate escalation. Leonid Slutsky, head of the State Duma’s international affairs committee, said the Kremlin considers threats against Belarus—a member of the Union State—as threats against Russia itself, and accused Zelensky of staging a performance for Western audiences. The Russian government had already condemned the bus attack as a terrorist act, with President Vladimir Putin ordering emergency medical assistance for the victims. Ukrainian officials have not claimed responsibility for that strike, and the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces declined to acknowledge involvement.

Belarus has served as a launch platform for Russian operations since the full-scale invasion of February 2022, with missiles fired from its territory in the opening phase. Lukashenko has since sought to balance material support for Russia—including hosting Russian troops and equipment—with public declarations that Belarus will not join active combat. Zelensky has warned for months that Russia intends to pull Minsk deeper into the war, and Ukrainian border fortifications have been reinforced. The relay stations, described by Ukrainian officials as repeaters on towers that assist Russian drone and missile guidance, represent a tangible point of friction. The one-week deadline, set on 19 June, places the next potential inflection point around 26 June, with no indication yet of diplomatic engagement or de-escalatory steps from either side.