Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has pardoned 123 prisoners as part of a deal with his US counterpart, Donald Trump, Minsk has announced. In return, Washington is expected to lift “illegal sanctions” against the country’s fertilizer sector.
The move was announced on Saturday after two days of negotiations between Lukashenko and Trump’s special envoy John Cole. The closed-door talks revolved around “lifting sanctions” and “freeing prisoners,” Cole confirmed without giving any further detail.
“We talked about the future, about how to move forward on a path of rapprochement between the United States and Belarus to normalize relations. That’s our goal,” he told reporters.
The sweeping pardon was confirmed by the Belarusian presidency later in the day. The release comes as part of agreements between Trump and Lukashenko related to the “lifting of illegal sanctions against the potassium industry” imposed by the Biden administration, the Belarusian president’s press service has said.