In a major diplomatic exchange, Belarus has released 123 prisoners, including Nobel Peace Prize winner Ales Bialiatski and prominent opposition figure Maria Kolesnikova, in return for the United States lifting sanctions on Belarusian potash.
The mass release is the largest by President Alexander Lukashenko since the Trump administration initiated talks this year. John Coale, the US special envoy for Belarus, announced the lifting of sanctions on potash—a key component in fertilizers—following two days of talks with Lukashenko in Minsk. The US stated the engagement is part of an effort to reduce Lukashenko's alignment with Russia.
Ales Bialiatski: The co-winner of the 2022 Nobel Peace Prize and founder of the Viasna human rights center. His wife confirmed he is traveling to Lithuania. The Norwegian Nobel Committee expressed "profound relief."
Maria Kolesnikova: A leader of the 2020 mass protests, who famously tore up her passport to resist deportation. She was among the large group taken to Ukraine, where she expressed "incredible happiness" and called for the release of remaining prisoners.
Viktar Babaryka: An opposition politician arrested while preparing to challenge Lukashenko in the 2020 election. He was also among those released to Ukraine, though he noted his son, Eduard, remains imprisoned.
The total group of 123 released prisoners includes foreign nationals, with 114 taken to Ukraine (including five Ukrainian citizens) and approximately nine, including Bialiatski, taken to Lithuania.
Exiled Opposition Leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya thanked President Trump and asserted that the exchange proves the effectiveness of sanctions. She stressed that while US sanctions are for people, EU sanctions should remain for systemic change, democratic transition, and accountability.
Former UN special rapporteur Anais Marin described the moment as "very emotional," highlighting that many prisoners had been held incommunicado for years—a "very serious human rights violation."
Pavel Slunkin, a former Belarusian diplomat, said the release signifies a major improvement in US-Belarus relations and could help Lukashenko renew his international legitimacy, expecting the US to pressure the EU to lift more sanctions.
The US embassy in Lithuania stated the U.S. "stands ready for additional engagement" to pursue the release of the remaining political prisoners in Belarus.
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