WARSAW: A US envoy was in Minsk for talks with longtime Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko Friday, video from state media showed, as Washington pushes for prisoner releases in the repressive Moscow-allied country.
Lukashenko, in power since 1994, has waged a massive crackdown in Belarus since 2020 protests against his rule, with more than 1,000 people still in prison.
Minsk said US President Donald Trump’s envoy John Coale was in Minsk for “negotiations” with Lukashenko.
Previous such visits have led to prisoner releases.
“Negotiations have started today, they will continue tomorrow,” a Telegram channel run by Lukashenko’s team said.
It published a video of Lukashenko greeting the US official.
In September, Belarus released dozens of political prisoners in a US deal, in exchange for the easing of some sanctions.
The Viasna rights group says Belarus currently has 1,227 political prisoners.
These include Nobel Prize winner Ales Bialiatski, protest leader Maria Kolesnikova and Lukashenko challenger Viktor Babaryko — held largely incommunicado since 2023.
Activists, journalists and ordinary people who participated in or backed the protests are among those behind bars.
In September, Minsk had released veteran regime opponent Mikola Statkevich, but he refused to leave for Lithuania and is back in jail.
The crackdown in Belarus has forced hundreds of thousands into exile.
US envoy in Belarus for talks with longtime leader
https://arab.news/8fjbp
US envoy in Belarus for talks with longtime leader
- Minsk said Trump’s envoy John Coale was in Minsk for “negotiations” with Lukashenko.
- Previous such visits have led to prisoner releases
Russia will examine Trump’s ‘Board of Peace’ invite: Putin
- Invites were sent to dozens of world leaders with a request for $1 billion for a permanent seat on the board
MOSCOW: President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday said Russia would study US President Donald Trump’s invitation to join his “Board of Peace.”
“The Russian foreign ministry has been charged with studying the documents that were sent to us and to consult on the topic with our strategic partners,” Putin said during a televised government meeting. “It is only after that we’ll be able to reply to the invitation.”
He said that Russia could pay the billion dollars being asked for permanent membership “from the Russian assets frozen under the previous American administration.”
He added that the assets could also be used “to reconstruct the territories damaged by the hostilities, after the conclusion of a peace agreement between Russia and Ukraine.”
Invites were sent to dozens of world leaders with a request for $1 billion for a permanent seat on the board.
Although originally meant to oversee Gaza’s rebuilding, the board’s charter does not seem to limit its role to the Palestinian coastal enclave and appears to want to rival the United Nations, drawing the ire of some US allies including France.
