Sanctioned Belarus and Myanmar military leader sign cooperation

Photo – Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko met with Myanmar military leader Min Aung Hlaing in Naypyidaw on July 2, marking his second visit to Myanmar since the 2021 coup. (AFP) Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko met with Myanmar military junta leader Min Aung Hlaing in Naypyidaw on July 2, marking his second visit to Myanmar since the 2021 coup. "The characteristic of the current Myanmar-Belarus relations is to start a new stage of development of relations," Lukashenko said at the talks in Naypyidaw, according to a statement from the Belarusian presidential office. According to Belarusian state news agency BelTA and junta media, the two signed a roadmap for cooperation in industry, agriculture, healthcare, and humanitarian affairs for 2026-2028. Min Aung Hlaing told Lukashenko that this was their fifth meeting in recent years, and the Belarusian leader first visited Myanmar in November 2025, BelTA reported. At that time, he became the second foreign head of state to visit Myanmar after the coup, following former Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen. The economic plan announced this week indicates only a shift in emphasis, not an abandonment of the core military basis of their relationship. Belarus was the only country to vote against a 2021 UN resolution urging member states to prevent arms flows to Myanmar. According to Justice For Myanmar, Belarus has supplied the junta with Kvadrat-M surface-to-air missile systems, Mi-24/35 attack helicopters, and recently, an air defense command system specifically designed to intercept and track drones. Belarus and the Myanmar military junta leader remain under Western sanctions. Lukashenko, who has been in power since 1994, is under sanctions from the United States and the European Union (EU) for his crackdown on protests against the 2020 election. Senior officials close to Min Aung Hlaing, including Lieutenant General Nyoe Soe, have been individually sanctioned by the EU. The US sanctioned three Myanmar nationals in 2022 for brokering Russian arms imports through Belarus. This visit comes as the junta continues to rely on air power in areas controlled by resistance forces, even as it pursues diplomatic outreach. Analysts point out that the increasing reciprocal visits to Belarus, Russia, and China coincide with the shrinking territorial control of the junta, with recent estimates suggesting the junta now controls only about one-fifth of the country's territory. Editor: Naung Naung