Belarus released more than 100 political prisoners on Saturday, including Nobel Peace Prize winner Ales Bialiatski and activist Maria Kolesnikova, after the U.S. agreed to remove some sanctions from the country.
Belarus released a total of 123 prisoners following talks between authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko and U.S. President Donald Trump’s special envoy for Belarus, John Coale. Viktar Babaryka, a former opposition presidential candidate, was also among those released Saturday.
The U.S. agreed to lift sanctions on potash, a key fertilizer component and an important export for Belarus, a historical ally of Russia.
"The United States is lifting sanctions on potash," Coale told journalists in Minsk. "I think this is a very good step by the U.S. toward Belarus. We are lifting them now," he said in remarks reported by state-run Belarusian news service Belta.
"As relations between the two countries normalize, more and more sanctions will be lifted," Coale added.
"The latest release of 123 individuals, including one U.S. citizen, six citizens of U.S. Allies, and five Ukrainian citizens, is a significant milestone in U.S.-Belarus engagement," a U.S. official said. "The United States stands ready for additional engagement with Belarus that advances U.S. interests and will continue to pursue diplomatic efforts to free remaining political prisoners in Belarus."
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy expressed gratitude to Washington for its endeavors to secure the release of the prisoners. "Thanks to the active role of the United States and the cooperation of our intelligence agencies, around one hundred people are regaining their freedom now, including five Ukrainians," Zelenskyy said in a post on social media.
Posted by John3262005
2 Comments
Always good to see political prisoners being freed from oppressive regimes.
The slowly but thawing relationship between the US and Belarus is interesting to see.
I think some time ago, there was some sanctions taken away on planes or something adjacent because of political prisoners being freed.
Now, sanctions on potash, a key fertilizer component, which a Belarusian state-owned potash company produces around 20 percent of the world supply.
Also, Reuters reports that the US says Belarus agreed to stop balloon flyovers into Lithuania
*U.S. President Donald Trump’s envoy John Coale said on Saturday that Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko had promised to stop weather balloons flying from his country into Lithuania.*
*The balloons, used by cigarette smugglers, have caused over a dozen closures of Vilnius airport in recent months.*
*Lithuania has accused Belarus of conducting a “hybrid attack” by facilitating the activity, and has declared a state of emergency over the issue, asking parliament to authorise military support for police and border guards to deal with the smugglers.*
*Lukashenko said on Tuesday that Lithuania was exaggerating the problem.*
I live in Belarus. I’m quite happy, but it’s sad that all the consequences can be easily undone by simply exchanging people. In fact, there’s a common joke here that Trump is the American version of Lukashenko.