Minsk released the prisoners following talks between strongman leader Alexander Lukashenko and US special envoy John Coale. Washington meanwhile agreed to sanctions relief for the Belarusian financial sector, including Belinvestbank, and removed all remaining US sanctions on potash companies Belaruskali, Belarusian Potash Company and Agrorozkvit. Coale said Lukashenko may soon visit the United States, a trip that would mark a breakthrough for the veteran authoritarian leader as he seeks to mend fences with the West after years of being treated as a pariah. Lukashenko is a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin and has supported Russia's invasion of Ukraine, although without sending Belarusian troops to fight there. Belsat reporter freed The Belsat journalist, Katsyaryna Andreeva, had been in jail for more than five years after being arrested for reporting live from anti-government protests in 2020. The demonstrations were in response to a presidential election widely dismissed as rigged that saw Lukashenko return to power for a sixth term. The nationwide unrest was met with a brutal clampdown from the regime that saw thousands arrested and interned. Following Andreeva’s detention for public order offenses, a court ruled in 2021 that a book she had co-authored was “extremist.” Andreeva wrote the book together with her husband Igor Ilyash, also a journalist with Belsat, who was arrested in November 2024 and sentenced the following September to four years in prison. Belarusian human rights group Viasna said before Thursday's announcement there were more than 1,100 political prisoners in the country. Preliminary reports suggested that of the latest batch of prisoners to be pardoned, around 15 would be sent to Lithuania, with the remainder staying in Belarus.
