Name: Belarus releases political prisoners as U.S. lifts some sanctions
Uploaded: 2025-12-13T17:31:24.874Z
Duration: 2 min 19 s
Description: Belarus has freed more than 100 political prisoners, including a Nobel Peace Prize winner, in exchange for sanction relief on Belarusian potash, a U.S. statement said on Saturday.

Belarus has freed more than 100 political prisoners, including a Nobel Peace Prize winner, in exchange for sanction relief on Belarusian potash, a U.S. statement said on Saturday.

Minsk

The United States and Belarus have reached an agreement resulting in the release of 123 prisoners, many of whom are considered political detainees, in exchange for the U.S. lifting certain sanctions on Belarus, particularly on the export of potash. Among those released are Nobel Peace Prize laureate Ales Bialycki and protest leader Maria Kolesnikova, both prominent figures in recent Belarusian political history.

This development follows years of strained relations and sanctions imposed by the U.S. and Europe after Belarus's 2020 crackdown on protests and its support for Russia's invasion of Ukraine. While the European Union continues to favor isolating Belarus, the U.S. is now taking a different approach by engaging directly with the Lukashenko government.

Belarus releases political prisoners as U.S. lifts some sanctions

The United States has struck a deal with Russian ally Belarus. President Donald Trump's envoy has announced the US will be lifting some sanctions after negotiating the release of political prisoners. The CBC's Julia Chapman joins us now from London. So, Julia, what more can you tell us about this deal? Well, Marianne, it follows negotiations between the US and Belarus over recent days. President Donald Trump's special envoy on Belarus, John Cole, is in Minsk, where he told journalists earlier that the US was looking to normalise relations with the repressive former Soviet country. And it has announced that it is lifting sanctions on potash, which is important for Belarus because the fertiliser component is one of the country's biggest exports. And Belarus has a very weak economy and a high dependency on Russia. In exchange for that sanctions relief, Belarus has agreed to release 123 prisoners. Some of them have been convicted for offences like terrorism, espionage and extremism. Many of them are considered to be political prisoners and some are citizens of other countries, including the US, Ukraine and Japan. Among those that are being released are the Nobel laureate Ales Bialycki, who has been behind bars since 2021. He won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2022 for his human rights campaigning. Also released is Maria Kolesnikova. She was jailed in 2020 for her part in the largest protests in Belarus's modern history. She's been barely heard from since her imprisonment and there had been concerns for her health. Those protests that she was involved in were sparked when President Alexander Lukashenko barred opponents from running against him in presidential elections. There were hundreds of demonstrators arrested in a big crackdown. The US and Europe introduced sanctions against Belarus at the time. They were strengthened later when the country allowed Russia to stage part of its invasion of Ukraine from Belarusian territory. Many critics of Lukashenko have resisted any kind of engagement. The European Union prefers to isolate Belarus, but the US appears to be trying a new approach now. Thanks so much for this, Julia. That's the CBC's Julia Chapman in London.

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