Both countries, each historically part of Kievan Rus' (9th to 13th centuries CE), came gradually under the control of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth (1569-1795), and ultimately, of the Russian Empire (1721-1917).

The UNR, although hesitant in the beginning, ultimately attempted to follow this route in international relations after Skoropadsky's fall.

An agreement on the state border between Belarus and Ukraine signed in 1997 was to be submitted to the Belarusian parliament for ratification after Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko and former Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko finished the process of the formalization of the border issues between the two states in early November 2009.

[3][4] In August 2020, during the Belarusian protests against Lukashenko, Ukraine recalled its ambassador to Belarus for the first time to assess "the new reality" and prospects of further bilateral relations between the two neighboring countries.

In a meeting with member of Ukraine's Verkhovna Rada Yevgeniy Shevchenko in April 2021, Lukashenko criticized former Ukrainian president Leonid Kravchuk for suggesting that Minsk be removed as a host in the Normandy Format as a result of the protests.

[13] In July 2024, Lukashenko called Ukraine an "enemy" and narrated that the Belarusian troops have a "high combat readiness" near Belarus–Ukraine border.