{"id":158096,"date":"2025-10-01T21:55:51","date_gmt":"2025-10-01T18:55:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/158096\/"},"modified":"2026-03-09T20:10:49","modified_gmt":"2026-03-09T20:10:49","slug":"pro-democracy-politician-viacorka-counters-claim-washington-not-interested-in-belarus-prisoners","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/158096\/","title":{"rendered":"Pro-democracy politician Via\u010dorka counters claim  Washington not interested in Belarus\u2019 prisoners"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>October 1,<em> Pozirk. <\/em><\/strong>Belarusian pro-democracy politician Franak Via\u010dorka has rejected suggestions that the US administration is uninterested in securing the release of Belarusian political prisoners.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s a shared achievement that we\u2019ve managed to engage the US administration\u2014and President Trump\u2014in efforts to free Belarusian political prisoners. Pro-democracy forces, human rights defenders, and the media have all played a role. There aren\u2019t many countries where political prisoners are discussed as they are in ours,\u201d Via\u010dorka told <em>Pozirk<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>His comments came in response to a statement by US Special Envoy Keith Kellogg, who told <em>The Guardian<\/em> that the US deal with Alaksandar \u0141uka\u0161enka was primarily aimed at establishing communication channels with Russian President Vladimir Putin, rather than securing the release of political prisoners.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s the Belarusians\u2014not the Americans\u2014who need the release of political prisoners the most,\u201d Via\u010dorka said. \u201cThey [the Americans] are doing this for you and me. Our task is to support the process as fully as possible in order to get as many people out of prison as we can.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Via\u010dorka emphasized that the process involves highly qualified officials from the White House and the State Department who understand the Belarusian context. He noted that they are well aware of the risks, including continued repression and the growing number of detainees.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019ve spoken with Kellogg several times, as well as with [his deputy] John Coale\u2014an outstanding diplomat and negotiator\u2014and [Deputy Assistant Secretary of State] Chris Smith. What they\u2019re doing truly deserves a lot of respect and appreciation,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Speaking about US engagement, Via\u010dorka stressed: \u201cWe must seize this opportunity.\u201d He underlined that the ultimate goal is to end the country\u2019s \u201c30-year crisis\u201d and repression and to launch irreversible democratic change. He added that the Americans understand this objective\u2014and for now, they are doing everything they can.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/ru\/news\/157791\/\">Trump\u2019s envoy: US deals with \u0141uka\u0161enka to improve communication with Putin<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>October 1, Pozirk. Belarusian pro-democracy politician Franak Via\u010dorka has rejected suggestions that the US administration is uninterested in securing the release of Belarusian political prisoners. \u201cIt\u2019s a shared achievement that we\u2019ve managed to engage the US administration\u2014and President Trump\u2014in efforts to free Belarusian political prisoners. Pro-democracy forces, human rights defenders, and the media have all [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":83,"featured_media":63993,"template":"","rubric":[16],"class_list":["post-158096","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>Pro-democracy politician Via\u010dorka counters claim Washington not interested in Belarus\u2019 prisoners | Pozirk<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"October 1, Pozirk. 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