{"id":151454,"date":"2025-08-16T10:59:46","date_gmt":"2025-08-16T07:59:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/151454\/"},"modified":"2026-03-10T12:05:06","modified_gmt":"2026-03-10T12:05:06","slug":"pundit-trumps-call-to-lukasenka-may-spur-further-dissident-releases","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/151454\/","title":{"rendered":"Pundit: Trump\u2019s call to \u0141uka\u0161enka may spur further dissident releases"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"block-image block-image-normal\">\n\n  <img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1440\" height=\"958\" src=\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/20233108_Fridman_Pozirk-00015DSC_5764-e1736838013664.jpg\" class=\"attachment-full size-full\" alt=\"\" \/>\n  <figcaption>\n      <div class=\"block-image__descr\">\n\n        Aleksander Friedman\n    <\/div>\n  \n       <div class=\"block-image__author\">\n                <span>(Pozirk)<\/span>\n    <\/div>\n     <\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>August 16,<em> Pozirk.<\/em> <\/strong>Yesterday\u2019s discussion of jailed Belarusian dissidents in a phone call between US President Donald Trump and Alaksandar \u0141uka\u0161enka inspires some optimism, political analyst Alexander Friedman told <em>Pozirk.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Previous Washington&#8217;s contacts with Minsk have always resulted in the release of regime critics, he noted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The expert called the phone call a \u201cmajor propaganda victory\u201d for \u0141uka\u0161enka, saying he may use it to cast himself as a statesman of global importance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The fact that Trump referred to him as \u201chighly respected president\u201d and allegedly agreed to visit Belarus with his family is \u201ca serious propaganda success regardless of the situation,\u201d Friedman said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The call was linked to Trump&#8217;s meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska on August 15, as it took place some hours ahead of it, he noted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Trump may also been interested in the situation in Ukraine and certain details of the upcoming Belarusian-Russian Zapad-2025 drill scheduled for September 12 -16, the expert added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Minsk and Washington announced the \u0141uka\u0161enka-Trump phone call yesterday afternoon. According to Trump, the purpose of the call was to thank \u0141uka\u0161enka for freeing 16 prisoners recently. \u201cWe are also discussing the release of 1,300 additional prisoners. Our conversation was a very good one,\u201d the US president said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"insert-block\">\n\n    <div class=\"insert-block__img\">\n                                <label class=\"insert-block__tag--mobile\"> Politics<\/label>\n\n                <\/div>\n    <div class=\"insert-block__text\">\n                    <label class=\"insert-block__tag\">Politics<\/label>\n                <h3 class=\"insert-block__title\">Cichano\u016dskaja asserts Trump\u2019s \u201cimportant humanitarian mission\u201d after Minsk-Washington call<\/h3>\n        <div class=\"insert-block__descr\">August 15, Pozirk. Belarusian opposition leader \u015aviat\u0142ana Cichano\u016dskaja has justified Donald Trump\u2019s telephone conversation with Alaksandar \u0141uka\u0161enka by saying that the US president pursued \u201can important humanitarian mission of releasing our people and ending repression.\u201d \u201cThis was an attempt to &#8230;<\/div>\n        <a class=\"insert-block__btn-block\" href=\"\/en\/news\/151397\">\n            <button class=\"btn\">\n                <div class='btn__text'>Read the article<\/div>\n            <\/button>\n        <\/a>\n    <\/div>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>August 16, Pozirk. Yesterday\u2019s discussion of jailed Belarusian dissidents in a phone call between US President Donald Trump and Alaksandar \u0141uka\u0161enka inspires some optimism, political analyst Alexander Friedman told Pozirk. Previous Washington&#8217;s contacts with Minsk have always resulted in the release of regime critics, he noted. The expert called the phone call a \u201cmajor propaganda [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":2596,"template":"","rubric":[16],"class_list":["post-151454","articles","type-articles","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","rubric-politics"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Pundit: Trump\u2019s call to \u0141uka\u0161enka may spur further dissident releases | Pozirk<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"August 16, Pozirk. 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Yesterday\u2019s discussion of jailed Belarusian dissidents in a phone call between US President Donald Trump and Alaksandar \u0141uka\u0161enka","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/151454\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Pundit: Trump\u2019s call to \u0141uka\u0161enka may spur further dissident releases | Pozirk","og_description":"August 16, Pozirk. 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