Belarus Releases Prominent Political Prisoners in Sanctions Deal With United States

BY EMMANUEL OGBONNA

Belarus on Saturday released Nobel Peace Prize laureate Ales Bialiatski, leading opposition figure Maria Kolesnikova and dozens of other political prisoners in a sweeping move that capped two days of high-level talks with Washington aimed at easing years of diplomatic isolation and securing relief from punishing U.S. sanctions.

President Alexander Lukashenko signed pardons for 123 prisoners, according to the country’s state media. In return, the United States announced it was lifting sanctions on Belarus’s potash sector, a cornerstone of the country’s export-driven economy that has been battered by Western restrictions.

The agreement marks the most significant thaw in relations between Minsk and Washington in years. Belarus, a close ally of Russia, has faced extensive sanctions and diplomatic isolation over its record on human rights and for allowing Moscow to use its territory as a staging ground for the 2022 invasion of Ukraine. Lukashenko, who has ruled the country of about 9.5 million people for more than three decades, has repeatedly been accused by Western governments of crushing dissent and rigging elections.

John Coale, the U.S. special envoy for Belarus, met Lukashenko in Minsk on Friday and Saturday and described the discussions as constructive. Speaking to reporters, he said the goal of the talks was to normalize relations and expand dialogue, adding that recent steps showed momentum was building after years of near-total estrangement.

“We’re lifting sanctions, releasing prisoners, and maintaining constant contact,” Coale said, according to state media. He characterized the evolving relationship as moving from tentative beginnings toward more substantive engagement.

Saturday’s release follows a series of similar moves by Minsk in recent months. Since July 2024, Belarus has freed hundreds of detainees, including political prisoners and foreign nationals. Among those released this weekend were a U.S. citizen, six citizens of allied countries and five Ukrainians, according to a U.S. official familiar with the negotiations, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the talks were private. The official described the development as a major milestone in bilateral engagement and credited sustained diplomatic pressure for the outcome.

At the center of international attention was Bialiatski, one of Belarus’s most prominent human rights defenders and the founder of the Viasna rights group. He was imprisoned when he received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2022, which he shared with the Russian rights organization Memorial and Ukraine’s Center for Civil Liberties. In 2023, Belarusian authorities sentenced him to 10 years in prison on charges of smuggling and financing activities that violated public order, accusations widely condemned by rights groups as politically motivated.

Bialiatski said his release after 1,613 days in detention came without warning. “In the morning I was still sitting in an overcrowded cell,” he said in a phone interview shortly after his release. He described the experience as disorienting, likening it to stepping from icy water into a warm room, and said he needed time to absorb what had happened in the outside world. Despite appearing pale and visibly weakened in early images, he said he intended to continue his advocacy, stressing that more than a thousand political prisoners remain behind bars in Belarus.

Kolesnikova, another high-profile figure freed on Saturday, became a symbol of resistance during the mass protests that followed the disputed 2020 presidential election. A close ally of opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, who lives in exile, Kolesnikova gained international attention when authorities attempted to deport her to Ukraine. At the border, she tore up her passport and walked back into Belarus, refusing to leave the country. A trained flutist, she was later convicted on charges including conspiracy to seize power and sentenced to 11 years in prison.

Other opposition figures were also among those released. Rights advocates reported that Viktar Babaryka, who had sought to challenge Lukashenko in the 2020 election before being jailed, was freed along with several well-known activists and political aides. Some details remained unclear, with conflicting reports about the status of a small number of detainees, but there was broad confirmation that the release was among the largest single-day pardons in years.

Most of the freed prisoners were transferred out of Belarus shortly after their release. Many were sent to Ukraine, while others, including Bialiatski, were taken to Lithuania. Additional transfers are expected in the coming days. Ukrainian authorities confirmed that Belarus handed over 114 civilians, including five Ukrainians. They said freed Belarusian nationals would be taken to Poland and Lithuania after receiving medical care.

Lukashenko’s office said the transfers were part of a broader arrangement involving the release of Belarusian and Russian nationals held abroad, though some aspects of that claim have not been independently confirmed.

For Lukashenko, the move appears driven by economic and political calculation. Sanctions imposed by the United States, the European Union and their allies have severely damaged Belarus’s potash industry, which once accounted for roughly one-fifth of global potash fertilizer exports. Restrictions on state producer Belaruskali and the loss of transit routes through Lithuania’s port of Klaipeda slashed exports and cut off a vital source of foreign currency.

Economic analysts say Minsk is hoping U.S. sanctions relief will open the door to easing tougher European measures. While the lifting of U.S. restrictions on potash offers some breathing room, broader access to European markets remains blocked.

Opposition leaders welcomed the release of prisoners but warned against overestimating its significance. Tsikhanouskaya said the move showed Lukashenko feels the pressure of sanctions, but cautioned that his underlying policies have not changed. She said repression inside Belarus continues and that the government remains aligned with Russia’s war in Ukraine, urging Western governments to proceed carefully on any further sanctions relief.

The talks between Washington and Minsk also touched on wider geopolitical issues, including the war in Ukraine and relations with neighboring countries. Coale said Lukashenko offered views on potential ways to address the conflict, noting his long-standing relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

U.S. officials have indicated that further progress in relations with Belarus will also depend on easing tensions with neighboring Lithuania, a member of the European Union and NATO. This week, Lithuania declared a national emergency over security risks linked to meteorological balloons launched from Belarus that repeatedly forced the closure of the country’s main airport.

For now, the release of some of Belarus’s most prominent political prisoners stands as a rare moment of optimism for families and supporters who have waited years for their freedom, even as deep questions remain about the country’s future direction and its place between East and West.