{"id":178657,"date":"2026-03-09T18:05:56","date_gmt":"2026-03-09T15:05:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/longreads\/178657\/"},"modified":"2026-04-15T13:35:32","modified_gmt":"2026-04-15T13:35:32","slug":"us-said-to-be-negotiating-release-of-a-new-group-of-belarusian-political-prisoners","status":"publish","type":"longreads","link":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/longreads\/178657\/","title":{"rendered":"US said to be negotiating release of a new group of Belarusian political prisoners"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A US delegation is expected to visit Minsk this month to discuss the release of more than a hundred political prisoners, a well-informed source told The Viewer<\/em>.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\n (Belarusian leader's press office, BelTA, Viasna\/collage Pozirk)<\/span>\n <\/div>\n <\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Coale hints at big deal<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Last week, John Coale, the US special envoy for Belarus, welcomed Alaksandar \u0141uka\u0161enka\u2019s decision to pardon 18 prisoners, including 15 dissidents, stressing that President Donald Trump had instructed him to secure the release of all \u201cpolitical prisoners.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Last year, Trump said several times that he expected to strike a bargain with Minsk to free what he called \u201chostages.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On February 27, speaking to reporters outside the White House before his trip to Texas, he said that Washington has very good relations with Belarus. \u201cThe leader is a person for whom I have great respect. . . I really like their leader,\u201d Trump added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s been a year since Trump\u2019s administration began expanding public contacts with \u0141uka\u0161enka\u2019s regime.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In February 2025, US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Smith visited Minsk to help secure the release of three designated political prisoners. Keith Kellogg, US President Donald Trump\u2019s special envoy for Ukraine, met \u0141uka\u0161enka in Minsk in June. Their talks resulted in the release of 14 prisoners, including prominent opposition figure Siarhiej Cichano\u016dski.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In mid-August, Trump held a phone call with \u0141uka\u0161enka before meeting Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska and later praised the Belarusian ruler as a \u201cpowerful leader.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Minsk released more prominent jailed dissidents in September and December following \u0141uka\u0161enka\u2019s talks with US diplomats.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In response, Washington eased sanctions on Belarus\u2019 national airline Bie\u0142avija and on Belarusian potash fertilizers. In late 2025, the US Treasury published a general license authorizing transactions involving the Belarusian Potash Company, potash giant Bie\u0142aruskalij and its subsidiary Agrorozkvit LLC.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Deportation of prisoners<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Coale secured the release of 123 prisoners during his previous visit in December. The source told the Viewer<\/em> that he hopes to agree on the release of at least twice as many inmates during his forthcoming trip.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Viasna Human Rights Center documented 1,140 political prisoners as of March 9. Last year, the United States facilitated the release of 342 inmates. In all, \u0141uka\u0161enka has pardoned 569 prisoners since July 2024. However, an even higher number of dissidents were imprisoned during that period.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Moreover, authorities expelled 189 of the prisoners pardoned last year from the country, according to Viasna.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Volha Zazulinskaja, the opposition\u2019s social policy chief, on March 6 criticized the expulsions as just another form of repression while speaking at a meeting of the EU\u2013Belarus Consultative Group in Brussels.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf the international response is limited to gratitude for such \u2018releases,\u2019 this practice will take root and become the norm. The prison-plus-deportation scheme is unacceptable and must be stopped,\u201d she stressed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Trump administration is the only government conducting direct negotiations with \u0141uka\u0161enka on political prisoners. The US envoy raised the issue of deportations with the Belarusian ruler, but he appeared to insist that those freed must leave Belarus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The EU does not engage with \u0141uka\u0161enka, while the Belarusian opposition is pushing for tougher sanctions aimed at forcing him to ease repression.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pavie\u0142 \u0141atu\u0161ka, deputy head of the opposition United Transitional Cabinet, recently warned the EU against negotiating any deals with \u0141uka\u0161enka until he \u201cagrees to meaningful political change in the interests of Belarusian society.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Advocates of engagement<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

More opposition voices have recently been heard in favor of at least limited engagement with the \u0141uka\u0161enka regime.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Valeryj Kavale\u016dski left the \u015aviat\u0142ana Cichano\u016dskaja team a few years ago and now criticizes her hard line.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kavale\u016dski, director of the Euro-Atlantic Affairs Agency think tank, argues that \u201cunrealistic maximalist demands and ultimatums\u201d do not help efforts to secure the release of political prisoners.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

His position is shared by some other opposition figures, including Maryja Kale\u015bnikava, an opposition activist pardoned in December and immediately expelled from her country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAs a person with a European mentality, I don\u2019t understand why Europe did not start talking to \u0141uka\u0161enka before the United States,\u201d she told The Financial Times<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Critics of engagement with the authoritarian ruler argue that it makes little sense as long as his security forces continue to arrest and imprison dissidents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Still, both opposition and EU politicians have refrained from criticizing Trump\u2019s engagement, welcoming the releases as a positive development while stressing that Europe should keep sanctions in force until meaningful change occurs in the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From any angle, it is good that the mercurial US president has unexpectedly become fixated on Belarus. There are many brutal regimes and political prisoners elsewhere, and the current US administration is not putting in the same effort to secure their release in most other cases.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The effort has benefited hundreds of Belarusians who might otherwise have continued to rot in prison.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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