According to the lawyer of the US President Donald Trump, at some point they brought vodka at a dinner-a personal brand Lukashenko-and toasts began.
At first, the self -proclaimed president of Belarus proposed to drink for Trump, the deputy assistant to Secretary of State Chris Smith pushed Cole to answer the same as it is customary in the region. The special representative of the American president followed the example and also uttered a toast for Lukashenko, and soon his stomach fell ill.
Cole said that he drank two shots, and although he “did not work, he did not drink the third.”
Toasts continued, little spoke about politics, the men met and the relationship developed, remembered Cole, adding how “it was fun.”
A few hours later, the authorities transferred Yuras Zenkovich, a naturalized US citizen, detained in the capital of the country of the Russian Federation of the Russian Federation in 2021 on charges of preparing the “coup d'etat” against Lukashenko. For this, as the media specified, the American delegation came.
Cole also suggested that Lukashenko wants to improve relations with the United States and participate in peace negotiations of the Russian Federation and Ukraine.
Context
After the presidential elections in Belarus, which were held on August 9, 2020, which the international community did not recognize as democratic, mass protests of disagreements with their results began. People were harshly dispersed, including using Light -noise grenades, rubber bullets and water bodies. The authorities declared four dead rallies, the opposition – about eight. Several hundred thousand people participated at the peak in rallies, in 2021, protest activity ceased, but the security forces further detained the opposition.
On August 16, 2024, the illegitimate president of Belarus signed a decree on the pardon of 30 political prisoners who were serving a sentence for participating in protests.
On August 20–21, 2024, the human rights initiatives “Vasna” and Dissidentby reported that Lukashenko “pardoned” and released at least 16 people who, under his regime, were sentenced to prison terms. Political prisoners in Belarus were released in July, supposedly after pardon. The State Department of the United States drew attention to the fact that more than 1,400 political prisoners are in custody in Belarus.
On January 26, 2025, when the next presidential election was held in Belarus, in which Lukashenko won, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that the authorities of Belarus had released Anastasia Nukhfer from custody.
