Lukashenka, Myanmar, Three Tractors

On who the Belarusian dictator has actually fallen in with.

A month and a half ago, during the visit of the Myanmar military junta leader to Minsk, representatives of the two regimes said a lot of beautiful words about developing relations. The cooperation did happen - but not the one they had hoped for, writes Salidarnasts.

On 7 March, Aliaksandr Lukashenka told the leader of Myanmar's military junta Min Aung Hlaing:

- However, sanctions are a time of opportunity. So we agreed with you to take advantage of these opportunities and strengthen and deepen relations between the states. And we will do that.

At the same time, representatives of the regime suddenly began to call Myanmar a ‘friendly’ and even ‘brotherly’ state.

Min Aung Hlaing offered Belarus to invest in the economy of his country, while Minister of Industry Aliaksandr Yefimau assured that this state was interested in supplying cargo and passenger vehicles from Belarus.

However, it could be understood from the words of the Minister of Industry that in reality there would be no economic relations. Having informed about the signing of a document on the intention to create an assembly production of tractor equipment in Myanmar, he reported about signing a contract to supply this country with... one item of three models of tractors ‘for testing in the market’.

Can you imagine? Probably, the only real outcome of the negotiations between the authorities of Belarus and Myanmar was the supply of three tractors. However, even this wouldn't be surprising if you study the international reports on the situation in Myanmar.

And according to the report of the UN Development Programme, the situation there at the beginning of 2025 was as follows: four years after the military coup, which plunged Myanmar into chaos, the country faced an unprecedented ‘polycrisis’, characterised by economic collapse, growing social conflict, complex climatic threats and deepening poverty.

Nearly half the population lives below the poverty line, vital services are collapsing and the economy is in decline. Millions of residents have already fled Myanmar while the country is asserting itself as the world's leader in producing opium, heroin and methamphetamine.

Incidentally, the military junta controls only part of the country. Since 2021, a civil war has been raging in Myanmar between the junta, supporters of the government it overthrew and a number of ethnic formations.

And this is the country the Lukashenka regime has contacted to find ‘opportunities’ under sanctions. Could it have been worse? It turned out that it could.

When a few weeks after the junta leader's visit to Minsk, a Belarusian military delegation headed by Minister Viktar Khrenin went to Myanmar, two terrible earthquakes with magnitudes of 7.7 and 6.4 occurred in that country. They killed more than 3.5 thousand people and destroyed many buildings and part of Myanmar's infrastructure, which was already in a deplorable state.

Relations between the two countries have indeed deepened, but not as expected in Minsk: rescuers, dog handlers and EMERCOM medics were sent from Belarus to the impoverished country.

Throughout April, two more earthquakes occurred in Myanmar. This aggravated the already severe humanitarian crisis. Myanmar is experiencing a ‘catastrophe in many dimensions,’ wrote the media.

As we can see, so far Belarus has not gained anything from relations with a new ally, but only has lost money. Thanks to Lukashenka's endeavours, Belarusians got such a ‘friendly’ country.

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