US EditionBelarus frees Nobel winner, top opposition figures as US lifts more sanctions
The U.S. lifted sanctions on Belarusian potash as part of a deal securing freedom for 123 prisoners, including Nobel laureate Ales Bialiatski and key opposition leaders.
- On Dec 13, U.S. special envoy John Coale announced the United States will lift sanctions on Belarusian potash per the instructions of President Trump after Minsk talks.
- Sanctions stem from Belarus's violent 2020 crackdown and its role in Russia's 2022 invasion, isolating the 9.5 million nation ruled by Alexander Lukashenko for decades.
- Coale said he discussed Russia's war in Ukraine and Venezuela with Alexander Lukashenko and argued Lukashenko's closeness to Vladimir Putin could aid diplomacy, while tasked by President Donald Trump to negotiate over 1,000 political prisoners' release.
- Belarus released 123 prisoners, including Maria Kalesnikava and Ales Bialiatski, in a deal linked to lifting potash sanctions, and Kalesnikava's sister said 'I just talked to Maria on video'.
- The decision signals a thaw between the United States and Belarus, a major potash producer, but critics like Franak Viacorka warn easing sanctions risks empowering Russia's war machine or rewarding repression.
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301 Articles
Residents of Belarus Ales Bialiaćki, released from prison after an agreement between Minsk and Washington, said that the Nobel Peace Prize protected him in prison and promised he would continue his "work" from exile, reports AFP.
der Standard AT
der Standard DE123 political prisoners released dictator Alexander Lukashenko on the weekend and bought further US pledges in close consultation with the Kremlin.
Belarus frees another 123 political prisoners, including Nobel laureate and opposition leader Kolesnikova
In another sanctions-relief-for-prisoners deal, Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko released another 123 political prisoners, including two of the highest profile, following talks with the US Special envoy to Belarus.
Hawaii Tribune-Herald
West Hawaii TodayBelarus frees prominent political prisoners as US lifts some trade sanctions
BERLIN — In the latest step in a growing thaw with the United States, Belarus on Saturday freed more than 100 prisoners, including two opposition leaders and a Nobel laureate, as the Trump administration announced it would lift sanctions on potash fertilizer, one of Belarus’ largest sources of cash.
The Nobel laureate said he was asked in prison to ask for his gratitude, but refused, adding that he had learned about his early release, wrote Kyiv Independent.Eliberations took place on the basis of a warm relationship between Washington and Minsk and after raising, in November, the sanctions imposed by Belarus Air Company. “In accordance with the instructions of President Trump, the United States will raise sanctions on power”, the US Special…
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