VILNIUS - Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko freed 123 prisoners on Saturday including Nobel Peace Prize winner Ales Bialiatski and leading opposition figure Maria Kalesnikava in a deal brokered by an envoy for US President Donald Trump.In return, the US agreed to lift sanctions on Belarusian potash. Potash is a key component in fertilisers, and the former Soviet state is a leading global producer.The prisoner release was by far the biggest by Lukashenko since Trump s administration opened talks this year with the veteran authoritarian leader, a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin.Western governments had previously shunned him because of his crushing of dissent and backing for Russia s war in Ukraine.Trump s envoy John Coale told Reuters that around 1,000 remaining political prisoners in Belarus could be released, hopefully in one big group, in the coming months. I think it’s more than possible that we can do that, I think it’s probable... We are on the right track, the momentum is there, he said.If no political prisoners remained, most of the sanctions could be removed. I think it s a fair trade, Coale added.
Sunday 18 January 2026
asiaone - 1 month ago
Lukashenko frees Nobel winner Bialiatski and key Belarus opposition figures in deal with US
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