U.S. Special Envoy for Ukraine Keith Kellogg will meet Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko in the coming days, Reuters reported on June 17, citing four sources familiar with the matter.

Kellogg will meet Lukashenko in a visit to Belarus as peace talks to bring an end to Russia's war against Ukraine remain inconclusive, Reuters reported.

In February, U.S. Deputy Assistant State Secretary Christopher W. Smith visited Belarus alongside two other U.S. officials to conduct a prisoner swap in a similar unannounced visit.

Lukashenko has been in power since 1994 and has been accused of staging fraudulent elections in Belarus. The leader declared a seventh consecutive presidential election victory in January.

Kellogg has given the impression that the meeting could help reinitiate largely unsuccessful peace talks between Ukraine and Russia, two sources told Reuters.

Lukashenko is seen as a key ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin as Russia faces isolation in response to its full-scale war against Ukraine.

The White House has discussed ways to weaken Russia's influence on Minsk and bring Belarus closer to the United States, one of the sources said.

On Feb. 12, Smith drove to Belarus from Lithuania following a phone call with Lukashenko. The small U.S. delegation visited a border town where three political prisoners were transferred, including one U.S. citizen and two Belarusian citizens, the New York Times reported.

Lukashenko assured he was ready to decrease repression in Belarus, Smith said, adding that the U.S. wants Belarus to be less reliant on Russia.

Belarus has faced Western sanctions following a presidential election in 2020 that international observers condemned as fraudulent. The sham election garnered mass protests that rejected the results.

Minsk refused to invite a mission from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) to observe the country's Jan. 26 presidential election.

Belarus further isolated itself from the West as it supports Russia in its ongoing war against Ukraine.

‘He said he wasn’t going anywhere’ — Survivors search for missing following Russia’s deadliest attack on Kyiv this year

Sitting a few meters from the rubble of what used to be a nondescript nine-story residential building in Kyiv, Lilia rises to her feet every time another pile of debris is cleared from the site targeted by Russia during a mass overnight attack on June 17. “We are waiting (as

The Kyiv IndependentKateryna Denisova

Moscow is planning to deploy multiple Oreshnik missile systems to Belarus by the end of 2025, State Secretary of Belarus' Security Council Alexander Volfovich said on May 28.

The "Oreshnik" is an intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM) that Russia touts as an experimental weapon capable of bypassing advanced air defense systems.

In December 2024, Belarusian dictator Alexander Lukashenko requested Moscow deploy 10 Russian Oreshnik missile systems in Belarus, pro-Kremlin journalist Alexander Yunashev reported on his Telegram channel.

"The locations for its deployment have already been determined," Volfovich said, without specifying how many missile systems would be deployed.

The Kyiv Independent cannot verify claims made by Belarusian officials.

On Nov. 21, 2024, Russia launched an Oreshnik missile against the Ukrainian city of Dnipro. The Oreshnik missile is designed to carry nuclear weapons, however, the missile was not armed with a nuclear warhead during the attack.

Russia launched the Oreshnik missile against Ukraine following Kyiv's first successful use of U.S.-supplied ATACMS missiles on a military target in Russia. Moscow later acknowledged additional ATACMS strikes on targets in Kursk and Bryansk oblasts.

While Russian President Vladimir Putin has claimed Russia has begun mass production of the Oreshnik, a U.S. official told The Kyiv Independent that Moscow likely possesses "only a handful" of these experimental missiles.

Belarus has been a key ally to Moscow and has previously been reported as hosting Russian tactical nuclear arms on its territory, after the two countries signed an agreement in May 2023.

Lukashenko said in December 2023 that the transfer of Russian nuclear weapons to Belarus was completed in early October.

Despite the claims, Ukrainian foreign intelligence chief Oleh Ivashchenko said in an interview with Ukrinform published on May 26 that Belarus possesses nuclear weapon delivery systems but no warheads.

Belarus has nuclear weapon delivery systems but no Russian warheads, Ukrainian intel chief says

Belarusian dictator Alexander Lukashenko said the transfer of Russian nuclear weapons to Belarus was completed in October 2023.

The Kyiv IndependentYuliia Taradiuk