Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko has opened the door to direct dialogue with Kyiv as part of negotiations to end Russia’s war in Ukraine, as he launches a diplomatic drive to break the republic’s isolation and total dependence on Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The head of Belarus' State Security Committee (KGB), Ivan Tertel, told state television on October 19 that his agency is prepared to engage with Ukraine “to find a consensus” and prevent further escalation.

“Our president works as much as possible in order to stabilise the situation in the region,” Tertel said, referring to Lukashenko, the country’s long-serving and internationally ostracised leader. “And we’ve managed to balance the interests of the parties in this extremely complicated situation with a tendency towards escalation.”

“I am convinced that only via quiet and calm negotiations, by looking for a compromise, we will be able to resolve this situation,” Tertel added, pointedly noting that “a lot depends on the Ukrainian side”.

The call for talks comes after Minsk sent letters to various EU member states offering to open a dialogue last week. Belarus is bidding for better relations with the EU after making notable progress in improving ties with the Trump administration, according to diplomatic sources cited by Reuters.

The diplomatic olive branches come after ties with the US have dramatically improved in recent months. US mediation was instrumental in bringing off a number of political prisoner releases. The most high profile are the release of 16 prisoners, including Sergey Tikhanovsky (Siarhei Tsikhanouskiy), the husband of Belarusian opposition leader Svetlana Tikhanovskaya (Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya), in June following a US-brokered pardon after envoy Keith Kellogg met with Lukashenko in Minsk. Another 52 prisoners were released in September after more US mediation. However, some 1,300 people remain in jail, according to human rights groups.

Nevertheless Belarus remains a key ally of Moscow and Lukashenko is a frequent visitor. Belarus has also hosted Russian military assets since the start of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 including Russian missiles and nuclear weapons.

Kyiv has not officially responded to the offer.

Lukashenko walks a rhetorical tightrope

Earlier this month, Lukashenko lashed out at Ukraine’s refusal to negotiate with Moscow, warning that “Ukraine may cease to exist as a state” unless President Volodymyr Zelenskiy “sits down, negotiates, and acts urgently”.

At the same time Lukashenko has offered to host a potential bilateral or trilateral meeting between Putin, Zelenskiy and US President Donald Trump – an offer that Bankova has rejected out of hand.

Since the 2020 presidential election — widely condemned by the EU and US as fraudulent — Belarus has faced heavy sanctions and pariah status among democratic nations. The situation worsened after Belarus allowed Russian forces to use its territory to launch part of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

According to Reuters, Belarusian diplomats recently met with European officials. One European diplomat confirmed a meeting with former Belarusian Deputy Foreign Minister Yuri Ambrazevich, who reportedly suggested Belarus could be included in wider talks about European security architecture, Reuters reports.

Washington has taken the lead in the rapprochement, brokering several political prisoners released from Belarusian jails. In return, the Trump administration agreed to lift some sanctions on the Belarusian state airline, Belavia that will allow Minsk to buy US-made plane parts again.

Trump’s envoy, retired General Keith Kellogg, later confirmed that the aim of the renewed dialogue was “to ensure lines of communication” with Putin.

“The goal is not to rehabilitate Lukashenko, but to widen the channels through which we can pressure Moscow,” a US official familiar with the talks said privately, Reuters reports.

Despite these diplomatic stirrings, Belarus remains deeply entwined with Moscow’s strategic ambitions. Last month, Russia and Belarus conducted the joint quadrennial Zapad-2025 military exercises – a show of military strength, involving an estimated 100,000 troops in exercises to simulate a conflict with Nato forces.

“Belarus may be testing the waters to become a ‘neutral’ channel for negotiation—without ever actually changing sides,” one analyst said, reports The Kyiv Independent.

Tertel’s comments on Belarus One come just days after Belarusian diplomats were seen stepping up contact with EU envoys amid renewed speculation over a potential Russia-US summit in Budapest.