Minsk proposes reopening border crossings for berry pickers from Ukraine, Kyiv objects

June 25, Pozirk. Belarusian border guards are ready to let Ukrainians into Belarusian forests in the Stolin district of the Brest region to pick mushrooms and berries, but Kyiv opposes the move, the State Border Committee reports.

Alaksandar Łukašenka approved the proposal, guided by “principles of friendship and good neighborliness,” the needs of ordinary people and a long-standing tradition, it said. The proposed seasonal simplified access permit could reportedly apply to residents of Ukraine’s Rivne region at three border crossings.

The proposal has been forwarded to the Ukrainian side through diplomatic channels, the border committee added.

Andrii Demchenko, spokesman for the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine, said Ukraine had not received any information from Minsk on the initiative.

“We are not in contact with the Belarusian border guards,” he told pravda.com.ua. “Ukraine will not agree to this, as it would set a dangerous precedent. Allowing entry into a country that supports a terrorist state is impossible.”

Berry pickers benefited from simplified border-crossing rules in the years preceding Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, which was carried out with support from the authorities in Minsk, the official noted.

Since spring 2022, neither permanent nor simplified border crossing points have been in operation.

Ukrainian border guards “have not recorded any attempts to cross the border for the purpose of gathering wild berries and mushrooms,” Demchenko added, stressing reinforced border security measures.