Hello everyone,
Welcome to Episode 19 of my Eyes on Eurasia podcast with Glen Howard! In this episode, we’re taking a close look at what’s happening inside Belarus, which recently became the focus of U.S. diplomacy with the June 21st visit of Keith Kellogg, President Trump’s Ukraine envoy. Kellogg is now one of the highest-ranking American officials to visit Belarus since February 2020, when Secretary of State Mike Pompeo made a landmark trip — the first by a U.S. secretary of state to Minsk since 1993.
The success of Kellogg’s visit was underscored by the release of 14 political prisoners following a six-hour meeting with Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenka — a major signal of improving U.S.–Belarus relations.
During President Trump’s first term, we witnessed a remarkable shift in bilateral ties, marked by high-level visits to Minsk from Secretary Pompeo, former National Security Advisor John Bolton, and A. Wess Mitchell, the former Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs. These visits helped pave the way for a transformation in U.S.–Belarus relations.
To many observers, this renewed engagement indicates that Minsk is once again seeking to balance its strategic relationship with Russia — a key ally and neighbor of both Belarus and Ukraine — while reengaging with the United States. Belarus also borders three NATO member states: Latvia, Lithuania, and Poland, making its geopolitical positioning especially significant.
Joining the podcast to explore the positive trajectory of U.S.–Belarus relations are Grigory Ioffe, Professor Emeritus at Radford University in Virginia, and Dr. Yauheni Preiherman, founder and director of the Minsk Dialogue Council. Dr. Preiherman also organized the now-suspended Minsk Forum, a major conference that brought together leading foreign policy experts from across Europe to discuss Belarus’s role in international affairs.
Enjoy the podcast!
Glen
Speaker Bios:
Grigory Ioffe
Dr Grigory Ioffe is Professor Emeritus, Radford University, Radford, Virginia. Dr. Ioffe immigrated to the United States from Russia in 1989. Active in Belarusian studies since 2002. He has authored and co-authored multiple peer-refereed articles on Belarus. Ioffe’s book, Understanding Belarus and How Western Foreign Policy Misses the Mark, was published by Rowman and Littlefield in 2008 and again in 2014. Published in 2014 by Palgrave Macmillan, his book Reassessing Lukashenka: Belarus in Cultural and Geopolitical Context is based on extensive interviews with the Belarusian leader. Ioffe also co-authored the third edition of Historical Dictionary of Belarus, published by Rowman and Littlefield in 2018. He used to regularly write about Belarus for the Eurasia Daily Monitor.
Yauheni Preiherman
Dr. Yauheni Preiherman is the founder and director of the Minsk Dialogue Council on International Relations, a Belarus-based think tank that focuses on analysis and Track-2 engagement on regional security in Eastern Europe. His main research interests include the foreign policies of small states, international affairs in Eastern Europe, and Euro-Atlantic and Eurasian security.
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