The BUCC held Zoom Conference on The Belarusian Crisis and Its Possible Consequences for Ukraine on 23 September 2020.

Please see below recording of BUCC’s Zoom Conference on Belarusian Crisis with:

– Nigel Gould-Davis, Senior Fellow at the International Institute for Strategic Studies, and former British Ambassador to Belarus, who has written numerous commentaries on Belarusian developments and their impact on the region and internationally;
– Anders Aslund, Economist & author, and Senior Fellow at the Atlantic Council; and
– Andreas Umland, German scholar, analyst, and Senior Expert at the Institute for the Future in Kyiv; with

Moderator: Bohdan Nahaylo, British-Ukrainian journalist and veteran Ukraine commentator based in Kyiv. He was formerly a senior UN official (serving 3 years heading the UNHCR in Belarus) and policy adviser, and the director of Radio Liberty’s Ukrainian Service.

Topics covered:

(1) Can Lukashenko prevail in Belarus – or is he the next Yanukovich – parallels and differences between Belarus 2020 and Ukraine 2014.

(2) The dilemma for Russia – why Russia will not intervene in Belarus before the Ukrainian local elections in late October 2020? What are Russia’s regional aims and what is likely to actually happen?

(3) The Belarusian mentality – why have Belarus and Ukraine exploded, and Russia has not?

(4) Ukrainian-Belarusian trade – will it be affected by the Belarusian demonstrations and revolution (how much Belarusian trade is actually sanction busting Russian trade that may disappear)

(5) To what extent does Belarus have its own culture that distinguishes it from Russia, despite the common use of the Russian language even as a legal language – similarities and differences with Ukraine.

(6) What is the future for China’s heavy investments in Belarus as a trading connection – could the Silk Road now be more directed towards passage to and through Ukraine as was originally planned before the Crimean invasion?

Looking forward to seeing you at our next events and subscribe to our YouTube channel!