Cichanoŭskaja: Trump has power to spur change in Belarus

July 13, Pozirk. US President Donald Trump may face challenges dealing with Russia, but Belarus is like “low-hanging fruit for him,” Belarusian opposition leader Śviatłana Cichanoŭskaja told The Sunday Times.
“The Belarusian people are united around the idea of change. Trump has the power and leverage to bring it about,” she noted.
The politician made this statement weeks after the release of her husband, prominent opposition figure Siarhiej Cichanoŭski and several other jailed dissidents following a meeting in Minsk between Alaksandar Łukašenka and Keith Kellogg, Trump’s special envoy for Ukraine. Cichanoŭski was immediately taken to Lithuania with the help of US diplomats.
The Belarusian ruler most likely expected that his release would cause a rift within the exiled opposition, yet he has “badly miscalculated,” said Franak Viačorka, who serves as an aide for Cichanoŭskaja.
While her husband remained behind bars, the politician had to be careful in her statements and actions, but now Minsk has lost this leverage against her, he noted.
A few days ago, the couple published a joint article for Il Foglio, arguing that Western sanctions on Łukašenka’s regime should be kept in place and expanded if needed.
The West should link any normalization of relations with Minsk to “tangible progress, starting with the full and unconditional release of all political prisoners,” they stressed.
Opposition leader, dissident husband urge West to keep up pressure on Minsk
- Politics, SportWorld Taekwondo Council allows Belarusian athletes compete under their flagThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- SocietyFires claim 129 lives since year's startThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- Politics, SecurityPoland reports another airspace incident involving BelarusThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- Politics, SecuritySecurity Council chief: first stage of surprise drill completedThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- SocietyTwo Belarusians to stand trial in Poland over air smuggling chargesThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- PoliticsOpposition leader marks 34th anniversary of Belarus joining OSCEThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- EconomyBelarusian banks’ profits up 24 percent in 2025The material is available only to POZIRK+
- Germany news, PoliticsBerlin seeks to shield personal data of Belarusian aid recipientsThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- Politics, Security
- PoliticsLithuania's top diplomat dismisses talks with Minsk as unrealisticThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- EconomyIndividuals’ debt on loans up by nearly 14 percent in 2025The material is available only to POZIRK+
- SocietyFive taxi company executives charged over “gray wages” schemeThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- EconomyAgriculture ministry reports record food export growth in 2025The material is available only to POZIRK+
- PoliticsInterior ministry blacklists Belarusians’ association in northern PolandThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- PoliticsEU Commissioner Kubilius opposes easing sanctions on BelarusThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- Economy
- PoliticsInterior ministry adds 12 to list of extremistsThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- Politics
- Politics
- Politics, SecurityEU considers visa restrictions on countries that weaponize migrationThe material is available only to POZIRK+



