John Coal, the US special envoy for Belarus, announced on Saturday that sanctions on potash have been lifted following talks with Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko in Minsk.
Belarus is one of the world’s leading producers of potash, a key raw material for fertilizer production.
The largest prisoner release to date
The release of prisoners represents by far the largest move of its kind made by Lukashenko since the administration of Donald Trump began talks this year with the close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Western governments had previously shunned him due to the brutal suppression of the opposition and support for Russia’s war in Ukraine.
Separately, Ukraine’s Coordination Center for Prisoners of War said it had received 114 people released by Belarus, including Ukrainian nationals accused of cooperating with Ukrainian intelligence services, as well as Belarusian political prisoners.
The statement said that the released prisoners would receive medical assistance, and that Belarusian citizens who request it would subsequently be transferred to Poland or Lithuania.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that five Ukrainian citizens were among those released.
Sanctions and the question of Lukashenko’s legitimacy
The United States, the European Union and the United Kingdom did not recognize Lukashenko as the legitimate president after the 2020 elections, which the opposition and human rights organizations said were rigged.
The sanctions that were imposed also seriously damaged the Belarusian economy and further isolated the long-time leader, whose main international ally is Vladimir Putin.
Pavel Slunkin, a former Belarusian diplomat, told Al Jazeera that today’s prisoner release represents a significant improvement in relations between the US and Belarus and marks a “turnaround in sanctions policy.”
“For Lukashenko, this means the beginning of the restoration of international legitimacy… His relations with the West will improve,” Slunkin said.
He added that he expects the US to lift additional sanctions and that Washington will pressure the European Union to do the same.
Reaction of the Belarusian opposition in exile
Belarusian opposition leader in exile Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya thanked Trump and assessed that the fact that Lukashenko agreed to release prisoners in exchange for concessions on potash is proof of the effectiveness of sanctions.
The opposition has consistently emphasized that it views Trump’s rapprochement with Lukashenko as a humanitarian effort, but that European Union sanctions should remain in place.
“US sanctions are targeted at individuals. EU sanctions concern systemic changes, stopping the war, enabling democratic transition and ensuring accountability. These approaches do not exclude one another, but complement each other,” Tsikhanouskaya said in a statement.
US officials told Reuters that engagement with Lukashenko is part of an attempt to distance him, at least partially, from Putin’s influence — an effort that the Belarusian opposition has so far viewed with a great deal of skepticism.
“The United States is prepared for further engagement with Belarus that will advance US interests and will continue diplomatic efforts to secure the release of the remaining political prisoners in Belarus,” the US embassy in Lithuania said.
“A very emotional moment”
It was not immediately clear where most of the 123 released prisoners would go after their release.
Officials told Reuters that nine of those released went to Lithuania, while 114 were transferred to Ukraine.
Speaking from Vilnius, former United Nations special rapporteur on human rights in Belarus Anaïs Marin told Al Jazeera that this was “a very emotional moment.”
She said that the families of political prisoners, journalists and human rights organizations had had no information about many detainees for years.
“They were held in complete isolation, which constitutes a serious violation of human rights, without access to lawyers, without the possibility of phone contact with their families, not even mail was delivered. We did not know whether they were even alive,” Marin said.
She added that at least seven political prisoners had died due to lack of food and health care in prisons.
Release of Ales Bialiatski
Bialiatski, one of the recipients of the 2022 Nobel Peace Prize and a long-time human rights activist who for years helped political prisoners before becoming one himself, is among those transferred to Lithuania, his wife said.
“I spoke with him, he is traveling to Lithuania and feels well,” his wife Natalia Pinchuk told AFP.
The Norwegian Nobel Committee expressed “deep relief and sincere joy” at his release and called on Belarus to free all political prisoners.
Among those released are also Maria Kolesnikova, one of the leaders of the mass protests against Lukashenko in 2020, as well as Viktor Babariko, who was arrested that year while preparing to run against the president in the elections.
Kolesnikova was among a large group of prisoners transferred by bus to Ukraine.
“Of course, the first feeling is incredible happiness, to see loved ones with your own eyes, to hug them and realize that we are now all free. It is a huge joy to see my first free sunset,” she said in a video posted on the Ukrainian Telegram channel Khochu Zhit.
The video shows her hugging Viktor Babariko, the opposition politician arrested in 2020. Babariko said that his son Eduard remains in prison in Belarus.
Maria Kolesnikova’s sister, Tatsiana Khomich, told Reuters that she had spoken with her by phone.
“She told me that she is very happy to be free, that she is grateful to the United States and Trump for their role in this process, as well as to all the countries that participated in it.”
MORE TOPICS:
Source: Mondo Foto:AP Photo / Pavel Bednyakov