Belarus has released 123 prisoners, including prominent opposition activist Maria Kolesnikova, after the United States agreed to lift sanctions against the country.
Nobel Peace Prize winner Ales Bialiatski is also among those who have been released following talks in Minsk with US President Donald Trump’s special envoy to Belarus, John Coale.
The United States agreed to lift sanctions on potash, a key ingredient in fertilizers and a major export for Belarus, which is a close ally of Russia.
Coale said: “As relations between the two countries normalize, more and more sanctions will be lifted.”
The president of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko, is not recognized as president by the EU.
Kolesnikova has been in prison since 2020, much of the time in solitary confinement.
Her sister, Tatiana Khomich, who campaigned tirelessly for her release, was able to speak to her shortly afterwards via video call and confirmed the news to the BBC.
“She’s free, she looks good, she looks good,” said Khomich, who said he was looking forward to giving his brother a hug.
Kolesnikova was handed over to Ukraine along with 113 other prisoners, according to kyiv’s Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War.
In a statement on Telegram, Ukraine said that after receiving the necessary medical assistance, the prisoners will be transported to Poland and Lithuania.
A spokesman for exiled Belarusian opposition leader Svetlana Tikhanovskaya told Agence France-Presse that the decision to send them to Ukraine was unexpected and had been made by Lukashenko.
Khomich said the first thing Kolesnikova said when they spoke was “thank you to the American administration, to President Trump.” [and] “Also to the government of Belarus for leading, speaking and maintaining these negotiations.”
The deal is a major achievement for Lukashenko and the authoritarian leader will also be grateful that the Americans have ended their international isolation.
Like the EU, the United States did not recognize Lukashenko as president after an unfair election five years ago that sparked massive street protests that were brutally repressed by police.
Hundreds of people – including Kolesnikova – were arrested and the intense political repression has continued.
Western sanctions were tightened following Russia’s large-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, when troops entered through Belarus and missiles were launched from its territory.
Coale was quoted by Belarusian state media as saying that sanctions on potash would be lifted immediately.
The US envoy also said he spoke with Lukashenko about Ukraine and what help Minsk could offer in talks with Putin.
The attempt to engage in dialogue with Minsk is part of a major shift in US policy, which leaves it sharply at odds with Europe, where the focus is on sanctions and isolation.
Viktor Babaryko, a Belarusian opposition politician who was arrested five years ago, was also released on Saturday along with Marina Zolotova, editor-in-chief of the independent news site Tut.by.
