Ukraine crisis: What does Belarus have to gain, and lose?

Russian President Vladimir Putin, right, and his Belarusian counterpart Alexander Lukashenko watch the joint drills of their countries in Moscow last week [Alexey Nikolsky/Sputnik via AFP]

Kyiv, Ukraine – “The implementation of the Minsk accords” is the phrase one hears quite often these days when politicians and pundits discuss the spiralling confrontation between Russia and Ukraine.

Minsk I and II are two sets of peace accords struck between Moscow and Kyiv in the eponymous capital of neighbouring Belarus in 2014 and 2015.