Tallinn, Estonia — Tallinn, Estonia (AFP) – Authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko Moscow on Thursday hosted a US envoy for talks in the Belarusian capital, Minsk, in the latest step in the ousted leader’s efforts to improve relations with the West.
Lukashenko met with President Donald Trump’s special envoy to Belarus, John Cole, according to the presidential press service. Topics on the agenda include restoring the normal functioning of the US Embassy in Minsk, which suspended operations in 2022, and “the release of so-called political prisoners,” as well as sanctions and other economic issues, state news agency Belta quoted Lukashenko as saying.
The last time US officials met with Lukashenko, in December, Washington announced the easing of some sanctions, and 123 prisoners were released and sent to Ukraine and Lithuania.
Minsk, a close ally of Russia, has faced isolation for years. Lukashenko He ruled the nation 9.5 million people have been held in an iron fist for more than three decades, and sanctions have been imposed on the country Repeatedly by Western countries – Whether for its suppression of human rights or for allowing Moscow to use its territory for a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
Lukashenko’s ruling was challenged after the 2020 presidential elections, when tens of thousands participated Pour into the streets To protest a vote they considered fraudulent. These were the largest demonstrations since Belarus’s independence following the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991.
In the ensuing crackdown, tens of thousands were arrested, many of whom were beaten by police. Prominent opposition figures have fled the country or been imprisoned.
After five years of massive demonstrations… Lukashenko won a sixth term Last year in elections that the opposition described as a farce.
Recently, Belarus has begun releasing some political prisoners in an attempt to gain support from the West. Since Donald Trump returned to the White House this year, Lukashenko has released dozens of prisoners, including… Nobel Peace Prize laureate Alice Bialiatsky And the main dissident figures Siarhi Tsikhanouski, Viktar Babaryka and Maria Kolesnikova.
Trump spoke to Lukashenko by phone in August 2025 after a phone conversation He releases They even proposed a face-to-face meeting in what would represent a major victory for the Belarusian leader, dubbed “Europe’s last dictator.”
Belarusian opposition leader in exile, Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, told The Associated Press in written comments Thursday that U.S. envoy Cole’s mission “is to help secure the release of political prisoners.”
“These are innocent people, illegally detained by the regime. This is not an easy task,” she said, adding that Lukahsenko “is not keeping his word – he is releasing some prisoners while arresting new ones.”
“But I think the United States has enough leverage to make a real difference and free them all,” Tsikhanouskaya said.
There are currently more than 1,100 political prisoners in Belarus, according to the country’s most prominent human rights group, Viasna.
“Of course, we welcome these efforts,” Tsikhunskaya said. “We consider them humanitarian and very important.” “But at the same time, we must insist on real and systemic change in Belarus – an end to repression and holding free and fair elections.”