Belarusian authorities have released Nobel Peace Prize laureate Ales Bialiatski and key opposition figure Maria Kolesnikova from prison. Their release comes amid President Alexander Lukashenko’s seeks to improve relations with Washington. Earlier, the United States said that it is lifting sanctions on Belarusian potash in the latest sign of a thaw between the two countries.
John Coale, the U.S. special envoy for Belarus, announced after meeting the President Alexander Lukashenko in the Belarusian capital of Minsk. Coale described the two-day talks as very productive, and added that normalising relations was our goal. A close ally of Russia, Minsk has faced Western isolation and sanctions for years. Belarus released more than 430 political prisoners since July 2024, in what was widely seen as an effort at a rapprochement with the West.
