U.S. presidential envoy John Coale met Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko on Tuesday for the first time in six months, as Washington seeks the release of more political prisoners in exchange for further easing of sanctions against Belarus.
Coale began negotiations with Lukashenko last year and has helped secure the release of hundreds of prisoners in return for the relaxation of U.S. sanctions.
However, human rights group Viasna says Belarus still holds more than 900 political prisoners. Lukashenko rejects that classification, describing those detained as lawbreakers and “bandits”.
Lukashenko, who has been in power since 1994, has used the talks with Washington as an opportunity to reduce Belarus’ international isolation after years of strained relations with Western countries over his government’s repression of political opponents and support for Russian President Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine.
“Our society views your visits with great interest. And, of course, neighbours and other world leaders are closely following our meeting,” Lukashenko told Coale after welcoming him with a hug.
Belarusian state news agency Belta reported that Coale conveyed greetings from U.S. President Donald Trump and said Trump “fully supports everything we are doing”.
The six-month gap since Coale’s previous visit to Minsk is twice as long as the intervals between his earlier trips, although neither side has publicly explained the delay.
Belarus’ exiled opposition has welcomed Coale’s diplomatic efforts as an important humanitarian intervention but has accused Lukashenko’s government of arresting new prisoners as others are released.
Human rights campaigner Ales Bialiatski, who was released from prison last year and deported, described the process as an exchange of prisoners for sanctions relief, saying it had not changed the nature of the Belarusian government.
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Analysts say Lukashenko may be seeking greater concessions for further prisoner releases and has become frustrated that U.S. sanctions relief, including the removal of restrictions on Belarusian potash, has not been matched by the European Union.
Last week, Lukashenko demanded the return of between $43 million and $44 million that he said belonged to Belarus and was “stuck at Citibank”.
The development came as UN experts said they had identified systematic violations of international human rights obligations throughout Belarus’ judicial process.
The experts cited arbitrary arrests, torture, denial of legal safeguards, closed trials and continued harassment of former detainees.
The Belarus mission to the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
