Belarus releases 123 political prisoners after U.S. eases sanctions
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, pictured at a press conference in January, agreed to release 123 political prisoners on Saturday in exchange for the United States dropping its crippling sanctions against the potash industry in Belarus. File Photo by Belarus President Press Service/EPA-EFE
Dec. 13 (UPI) — President Donald Trump on Saturday ended U.S. sanctions on potash fertilizers from Belarus in exchange for Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko releasing 123 political prisoners.
Lukashenko freed the prisoners, who include Nobel Peace Prize laureate Ales Bialiatski and political opposition figure Maria Kolesnikova, in an effort to improve the Russia-allied nation’s relations with the United States, Bloomberg and the Los Angeles Times reported.
“In accordance with President Trump’s instructions, the United States is lifting sanctions on potash,” U.S. Special Envoy John Coale told Belta, Belarus’ official news agency.
“I believe this is a very good step by the United States for Belarus,” Coale said. “We are lifting them now.”
Belarus has been sanctioned by the U.S. and other Western nations since 2021 because of Lukashenko’s authoritarian rule and decades of political repression.
Sanctions have ramped up since 2022 because Lukashenko also allowed Russian President Vladimir Putin to launch his invasion of Ukraine from Belarus.
In 2024, Lukashenko started releasing prisoners in order to appease Western leaders, including Trump, and get sanctions lifted that have crippled the Belarusian potash industry.
Since July 2024, before Saturday’s prisoner release, Belarus has freed more than 430 political prisoners.
According to Coale, the United States is “constantly talking” to Belarus and lifting the U.S. sanctions on potash — European sanctions, which have been called more consequential than the U.S. sanctions, remain in place — is a step toward reaching a point where all sanctions against the country have been removed.
“As relations between the two countries normalize, more sanctions will be lifted,” Coale said.