Editing Belarus (section)

===Foreign relations===
{{Main|Foreign relations of Belarus}}
[[File:Putin with Alexander Lukashenko 2015.jpg|thumb|right|President [[Alexander Lukashenko]] shaking hands with [[President of Russia|Russian President]] [[Vladimir Putin]], 2015]]
The Byelorussian SSR was one of the two Soviet republics that joined the [[United Nations]] along with the Ukrainian SSR as one of the original 51 members in 1945.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.un.org/press/en/2006/org1469.doc.htm|title=UNITED NATIONS MEMBER STATES &#124; Meetings Coverage and Press Releases|website=www.un.org}}</ref> Belarus and Russia have been close trading partners and diplomatic allies since the breakup of the Soviet Union. Belarus is dependent on Russia for imports of raw materials and for its export market.<ref name="stategov">{{cite web|url=https://2009-2017.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/5371.htm|title=Background Note: Belarus|access-date=7 November 2007|publisher=United States State Department|year=2007|author=United States Government}}</ref>

The [[Union State]], a supranational confederation between Belarus and Russia, was established in a 1996–99 series of treaties that called for monetary union, equal rights, single citizenship, and a common foreign and defense policy. However, the future of the union has been placed in doubt because of Belarus's repeated delays of monetary union, the lack of a referendum date for the draft constitution, and a [[2007 Russia–Belarus energy dispute|dispute over the petroleum trade]].<ref name=stategov/><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.orfonline.org/expert-speak/russia-belarus-relations-future-union-state-65288/|title = Russia-Belarus relations: The future of the union state}}</ref> Belarus was a founding member of the [[Commonwealth of Independent States]] (CIS).<ref name="cisstrained">{{cite web|url=http://www.rferl.org/featuresarticle/2006/11/6e49cd34-6c37-40ff-87f4-a6557e84f7e9.html|title=CIS: Foreign Ministers, Heads Of State Gather In Minsk For Summit|access-date=7 November 2007|year=2006|author=Radio Free Europe| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071116014000/http://www.rferl.org/featuresarticle/2006/11/6e49cd34-6c37-40ff-87f4-a6557e84f7e9.html|archive-date= 16 November 2007|url-status=live}}</ref> Belarus has trade agreements with several [[European Union]] member states (despite other member states' travel ban on Lukashenko and top officials),<ref name="euban">{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/2492939.stm|title=EU imposes Belarus travel ban|access-date=3 December 2007 |date=19 November 2002|work=BBC News}}</ref> including neighboring Latvia, Lithuania, and Poland.<ref name="foreignrelations">{{cite web|url=http://www.mfa.gov.by/en/foreign-policy/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080217002512/http://mfa.gov.by/en/foreign-policy/|archive-date=17 February 2008|title=Foreign Policy|access-date=22 December 2007|year=2007|publisher=Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Belarus}}</ref> Travel bans imposed by the European Union have been lifted in the past in order to allow Lukashenko to attend diplomatic meetings and also to engage his government and opposition groups in dialogue.<ref name="Belarus president visits Vatican">{{cite news|title=Belarus president visits Vatican|date=27 April 2009|publisher=British Broadcasting Corporation|url =http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/8021513.stm|work=BBC News|access-date=30 April 2010}}</ref>

[[File:Normandy format talks in Minsk (February 2015) 03.jpeg|thumb|left|Leaders of Belarus, Russia, Germany, France, and Ukraine at the summit in [[Minsk II|Minsk]], 11–12 February 2015]]
Bilateral relations with the United States are strained; the United States has not had an ambassador in Minsk since 2007 and Belarus has not had an ambassador in Washington since 2008.<ref>{{Cite web |last1=Gramer |first1=Robbie |last2=Mackinnon |first2=Amy |date=12 August 2020 |title=The U.S. Was Set to Send an Ambassador to Belarus. Then Came the Crackdown. |url=https://foreignpolicy.com/2020/08/12/belarus-lukashenko-elections-protests-united-states-diplomatic-relations/ }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://jamestown.org/program/modest-advances-us-belarus-relations/|title=Modest Advances in US-Belarus Relations|website=Jamestown}}</ref> Diplomatic relations remained tense, and in 2004, the United States passed the [[Belarus Democracy Act of 2004|Belarus Democracy Act]], which authorized funding for anti-government Belarusian NGOs, and prohibited loans to the Belarusian government, except for humanitarian purposes.<ref>{{cite news|title=Belarus Democracy Act Will Help Cause of Freedom, Bush Says|date=22 October 2007|publisher=United States State Department|url=http://usinfo.state.gov/dhr/Archive/2004/Oct/22-739373.html|work=USINO|access-date=22 December 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071016052521/http://usinfo.state.gov/dhr/Archive/2004/Oct/22-739373.html|archive-date=16 October 2007}}</ref>

Relations between [[Belarus–China relations|China and Belarus]] are close,<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/business/feedarticle/9003481|title=China's Xi promises Belarus $1 billion in loans|newspaper=Guardian|access-date=4 March 2016|location=London|date=7 May 2008}}</ref> with Lukashenko visiting China multiple times during his tenure.<ref name=":02">{{Cite journal |last1=Li |first1=Yan |last2=Cheng |first2=Enfu |date=1 December 2020 |title=Market Socialism in Belarus: An Alternative to China's Socialist Market Economy |url=https://www.scienceopen.com/hosted-document?doi=10.13169/worlrevipoliecon.11.4.0428 |journal=World Review of Political Economy |volume=11 |issue=4 |page=438 |doi=10.13169/worlrevipoliecon.11.4.0428 |issn=2042-8928 |s2cid=236786906}}</ref> Belarus also has strong ties with [[Syria]],<ref>{{cite news|title=Syria and Belarus agree to promote trade|date=13 March 1998|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/65106.stm|work=BBC News|access-date=22 December 2007}}</ref> considered a key partner in the Middle East.<ref>{{cite news|title=Belarus-Syria report substantial progress in trade and economic relations|date=31 August 2007|publisher=Press Service of the President of the Republic of Belarus|url=http://www.president.gov.by/en/press32193.html|access-date=22 December 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080120063008/http://www.president.gov.by/en/press32193.html|archive-date=20 January 2008}}</ref> In addition to the CIS, Belarus is a member of the [[Eurasian Economic Union]] (previously the [[Eurasian Economic Community]]), the [[Collective Security Treaty Organization]],<ref name="foreignrelations" /> the international [[Non-Aligned Movement]] since 1998,<ref name="byintorgs">{{cite web|url=http://www.mfa.gov.by/en/foreign-policy/international-organizations/a25183575d762f8b.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071205033317/http://www.mfa.gov.by/en/foreign-policy/international-organizations/a25183575d762f8b.html |archive-date=5 December 2007 |title=Membership of the Republic of Belarus in International Organizations|access-date=4 November 2007|year=2007|author=Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the RB}}</ref> and the [[Organization on Security and Cooperation in Europe]] (OSCE). As an OSCE member state, Belarus's international commitments are subject to monitoring under the mandate of the [[U.S. Helsinki Commission]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.un.org/members/growth.shtml |title=Growth in United Nations membership, 1945–present |access-date=22 December 2007 |date=3 July 2006 |work=Department of Public Information |publisher=[[United Nations|United Nations Organization]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071216164953/http://www.un.org/members/growth.shtml |archive-date=16 December 2007 }}</ref> Belarus is included in the European Union's [[Eastern Partnership]] program, part of the EU's [[European Neighbourhood Policy]] (ENP), which aims to bring the EU and its neighbours closer in economic and geopolitical terms.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://ec.europa.eu/home-affairs/what-we-do/policies/international-affairs/european-neighbourhood-policy_en |title=European Neighbourhood Policy |date=6 December 2016 |publisher=European Commission Migration and Home Affairs |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201121064422/https://ec.europa.eu/home-affairs/what-we-do/policies/international-affairs/european-neighbourhood-policy_en |archive-date=21 November 2020 |access-date=27 September 2021}}</ref> However, Belarus suspended its participation in the Eastern Partnership program on 28 June 2021, after the EU imposed more sanctions against the country.<ref name="eapsusp1">{{cite news| url=https://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/policies/eastern-partnership/belarus/ |title=EU relations with Belarus |website=Council of the EU |access-date=9 February 2022}}</ref><ref name="eapsusp2">{{cite web|url=https://www.dw.com/en/belarus-freezes-migrant-cooperation-deal-over-eu-sanctions/a-58082501 |title=Belarus freezes migrant cooperation deal over EU sanctions |website=Deutsche Welle | date=28 June 2021 |access-date=9 February 2022}}</ref>