Vilnius, Lithuania
AP
—
Belarus released Nobel Peace Prize winner Ales Bialiatsky, leading opposition figure Maria Kolesnikova and dozens of other prisoners on Saturday, ending two days of talks with the United States aimed at improving relations and lifting crippling American sanctions on Belarus’ key agricultural exports.
The United States announced early Saturday that it would lift sanctions on Belarus’ potash sector. In return, President Alexander Lukashenko pardoned 123 prisoners, Belarusian state news agency Belta reported.
Minsk, a close ally of Russia, has faced Western isolation and sanctions for years. Mr. Lukashenko has ruled the country of 9.5 million people with an iron fist for more than three decades, but Belarus has been repeatedly sanctioned by Western powers both for its crackdown on human rights and for allowing Moscow to use territory in its 2022 invasion of Ukraine. Belarus has released hundreds of prisoners since July 2024.
US special envoy to Belarus John Cole, who met with President Lukashenko in Minsk on Friday and Saturday, told reporters that the meeting had been “very productive” and that normalization of relations between Washington and Minsk was “our goal,” Belta newspaper reported.
“We are lifting sanctions and releasing prisoners. We are in constant dialogue,” Kohl said, adding that relations between the United States and Belarus were moving “from a baby stage to a more confident stage” as dialogue expanded, according to Belarus News Agency.
The 123 prisoners included one American, six nationals of U.S. allies and five Ukrainians, a U.S. official told The Associated Press in an email. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss private diplomatic negotiations, said the release was “an important milestone in U.S.-Belarus engagement” and “another diplomatic victory” for U.S. President Donald Trump.
The official said President Trump’s involvement to date has “led to the release of more than 200 political prisoners wrongly detained in Belarus, including six Americans and more than 60 nationals of U.S. allies and partners.”
Bialiatsky and Kolesnikova are among those released.
Pavel Saperka, an activist with the Viasna human rights group, confirmed to the AP that Bialiatsky and Kolesnikova were among those released.
Bialyatsky, the human rights defender who founded Viasna, was in prison when he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2022, along with prominent Russian human rights organization Memorial and the Ukrainian Center for Freedom and Human Rights. He was subsequently convicted of smuggling and public order financing, charges widely condemned as politically motivated, and sentenced to 10 years in prison in 2023.
Bialiatsky told The Associated Press by phone on Saturday that his release after 1,613 days in custody was a surprise. In the morning, he was still in an overcrowded cell.
“It feels like jumping out of ice water into a normal warm room. So we have to adapt. After being isolated, we need to be informed about what is happening,” Bialiatsky said. In videos and photos after his release, he appeared healthy but pale and haggard.
“More than a thousand political prisoners remain in prison in Belarus simply because they chose freedom. And, of course, I am their advocate,” he said, pledging to continue his work.
Kolesnikova, meanwhile, was a central figure in the mass protests that rocked Belarus in 2020 and is a close ally of exiled opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya.
Kolesnikova, known for her close-cropped hair and her trademark gesture of making a heart with her hands, became an even bigger symbol of resistance when Belarusian authorities tried to deport her in September 2020. Driven to the border with Ukraine, she briefly broke away from security forces in a remote area, tore up her passport and walked back to Belarus.
The 43-year-old professional flutist was convicted in 2021 of charges including conspiracy to seize power and sentenced to 11 years in prison.
Among the others released was Viktar Babaryka, Viasna said. Viktar Babaryka, an opposition figure who sought to challenge Lukashenko in a 2020 presidential election widely seen as rigged, was found guilty and sentenced to 14 years in prison on charges he rejected as political.
Viasna newspaper reported that the group’s imprisoned defenders Valiantsin Stefanovic and Vladimir Lapković, as well as prominent opposition figure Maxim Zunak, were also released. But the company has since said it has clarified its reporting on Stefanovic’s release, and Bialyatsky told the AP that Stefanovic has not been released yet but hopes he will be released soon.
Most of them were brought to Ukraine, Tsikhanouskaya’s senior adviser Franak Vyachorka told The Associated Press.
“I think Mr. Lukashenko decided to expel people to Ukraine to show that he was in control of the situation,” Mr. Biachorka said.
Biachorka said eight or nine other prisoners, including Bialiatsky, were being sent to Lithuania on Saturday, and more prisoners would be transferred to the Baltic state in the coming days.
Ukrainian authorities confirmed that Belarus had handed over 114 civilians. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said five of them were Ukrainian nationals.
Ukrainian authorities said the freed Belarusian national would be transferred to Poland and Lithuania “at his request” and “after receiving the necessary medical treatment.”
When U.S. officials last spoke with Lukashenko in September, Washington said it would ease some sanctions against Belarus. Meanwhile, Minsk released more than 50 political prisoners to Lithuania, bringing the number of prisoners released since July 2024 to over the 430 mark.
“The release of political prisoners means that Mr. Lukashenko understands the pain of Western sanctions and is trying to alleviate them,” exiled opposition leader Tikhanovskaya told The Associated Press on Saturday.
“But don’t be naive. Mr. Lukashenko has not changed his policy, the repression continues, and he continues to support Russia’s war against Ukraine. That is why we need to be extremely cautious about any talk of sanctions relief, lest we strengthen Russia’s war machine and encourage continued repression,” he added.
Tikhnuskaya also said that European Union sanctions on Belarus’ potash fertilizers are much more painful for Minsk than those imposed by the United States, and said that while easing American sanctions could lead to the release of political prisoners, European sanctions should encourage long-term, systemic change in Belarus and an end to Russia’s war in Ukraine.
Belarus, which previously accounted for about 20% of global potash fertilizer exports, has faced a significant drop in shipments since Western sanctions targeted state-run producer Belarus potash and cut off shipments through Lithuania’s Klaipėda port, the country’s main export route.
“Sanctions by the US, EU and their allies have significantly weakened Belarus’ potash industry, depriving the country of a major source of foreign exchange earnings and access to key markets,” Anastasiya Luzgina of the Belarusian Economic Research Center BEROC told The Associated Press.
“The Minsk government hopes that the lifting of U.S. sanctions on Cali will pave the way for the easing of more painful European sanctions. At least the U.S. action will allow us to start discussions.”
According to Belta newspaper, the latest US-Belarus talks also touched on Venezuela and Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine.
Mr. Kohl told reporters that Mr. Lukashenko had given him “good advice” on how to deal with the war in Ukraine, adding that Mr. Lukashenko and Russian President Vladimir Putin were “long-time friends” and had “the level of relationship necessary to discuss these issues.”
“Of course, President Putin may accept some advice and not others,” Kohl said.
A U.S. official told The Associated Press that “continued progress in U.S.-Belarus relations also requires steps to resolve tensions between Belarus and neighboring Lithuania, an EU and NATO member.”
The Lithuanian government declared a national emergency this week due to the security risks posed by weather balloons sent from Belarus.
The balloons caused Lithuania to repeatedly close its main airport, leaving thousands of people stranded. Earlier this year, Lithuania temporarily closed its border with Belarus, while Belarusian authorities threatened to seize up to 1,200 Lithuanian trucks for being stuck in Belarus.
U.S. officials said improving U.S.-Belarusian relations requires “aggressive action to stop the release of smuggled balloons from Belarus impacting Lithuanian airspace and resolve the seizure of a Lithuanian truck.”
