Belarus has released 52 prisoners of various nationalities after an appeal from US president Donald Trump.
Those released were headed to Lithuania with the US delegation that negotiated their release, the US embassy in Vilnius said on Thursday.
Mr Trump had earlier called on Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko, a close ally of Russian president Vladimir Putin, to release detainees who the US leader has described as “hostages”. Belarus later confirmed their release.
In return for Mr Lukashenko’s gesture, the US will grant sanctions relief to Belarus’s national airline Belavia, allowing it to service and buy components for its fleet, which includes Boeing aircraft, the US embassy spokesperson in Vilnius said.
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Exiled Belarusian opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya said an easing of US sanctions on Belavia could also benefit Russia as there could be a “loophole” for Russia to acquire spare parts through the airline.
“We understand the humanitarian aim – to free people. We welcome their release, but in essence, this is a trade in human lives – people who should never have been imprisoned in the first place,” Ms Tsikhanouskaya said.
It was the biggest batch of prisoners so far pardoned by Mr Lukashenko, who is seeking to repair relations with the US after years of isolation and sanctions on his former Soviet state.
But it was far short of the total 1,300 or 1,400 prisoners whose release Mr Trump had called for in a conversation with Mr Lukashenko last month and in subsequent social media posts.
[ Belarus opposition leader freed after nearly five years in jailOpens in new window ]
It was also not immediately clear whether those released included some of the most prominent critics of Mr Lukashenko’s decades-old rule, such as human rights campaigner Ales Bialiatski, co-winner of the 2022 Nobel Peace Prize.
“What happened [today] is a great diplomatic success for the United States and for us all,” Lithuanian president Gitanas Nauseda said, as he announced that the ex-prisoners were crossing into Lithuania, a Nato and EU member state.
Belarus state news agency Belta said they included 14 foreign nationals from Lithuania, Latvia, Poland, France, Britain and Germany.
Belta also quoted John Coale, a lawyer who headed the US delegation, as saying Mr Trump had told Mr Lukashenko that Washington wants to reopen its embassy in Minsk.
Earlier, Mr Coale had passed a letter from Mr Trump in English to Mr Lukashenko signed “Donald”, Belta showed. The fact that Mr Trump had signed the letter simply Donald was “a rare act of personal friendship”, it quoted Mr Coale as saying.
“If Donald insists that he is ready to take in all these released prisoners, God bless you, let’s try to work out a global deal, as Mr Trump likes to say, a big deal,” said Mr Lukashenko, who also praised the US leader for seeking a peace deal in Ukraine.
“Our main task is to stand with Trump and help him in his mission to establish peace,” Belta later quoted Mr Lukashenko as saying, referencing Mr Trump’s claim that he has solved six or seven world conflicts.
Mr Lukashenko has led Belarus through more than three decades of authoritarian rule. He had said as recently as August 22nd that he was not prepared to release “bandits” who might “wage war” against the state.
Mr Trump has flattered the veteran leader, long treated as a pariah by the West, and said he plans to meet with him. Last week he described him as a “very respected man, strong person, strong leader”.
The release took place at a difficult moment in the Russia-Ukraine war, a day after Poland shot down suspected Russian drones over its territory and on the eve of a major joint exercise between the Russian and Belarusian armed forces.
Belarus shares borders with three Nato countries and with Ukraine. Mr Lukashenko allowed Mr Putin to use Belarusian territory for his full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 but his army has not directly participated in the war.
Mr Lukashenko says there are no political prisoners in Belarus and that those behind bars are law-breakers who chose their own fate. – Reuters
