Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko told Russian Ambassador to Belarus Boris Gryzlov that Minsk does not want to be drawn into the war against Ukraine, saying he had repeatedly discussed with Russian President Vladimir Putin why Belarus did not want to fight Ukrainians, BelTA reported on June 25. The comments followed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's June 19 warning that Belarus had one week to remove relay equipment Kyiv said was helping Russia guide long-range drone attacks against Ukraine, after which Ukraine would act if Minsk failed to comply.

French President Emmanuel Macron reportedly warned Lukashenko during a May phone call not to allow Belarus to be drawn further into the Russia-Ukraine war. On June 26, just a day after his meeting with Gryzlov, Lukashenko traveled to Putin's Valdai residence for talks on regional security and other bilateral issues, with the Kremlin's spokesperson Dmitry Peskov saying no media statements were planned after the meeting.