Lukashenko promised Trump's emissary that he would stop the balloons launched from Belarus towards Lithuania

US President Donald Trump's emissary, John Coale, said on Saturday that the leader of Belarus, Aleksandr Lukashenko, had promised him that he would stop the launch of weather balloons from his country's territory to Lithuania.

“He recently agreed to do everything in his power to stop these balloons,” Coale told Reuters in Vilnius after two days of talks with Lukashenko.

The balloons, used by cigarette smugglers, have led to the closure of Vilnius airport dozens of times in recent months.

Lithuania accused Belarus of conducting a “hybrid attack” by facilitating this activity and declared a state of emergency over the situation, asking Parliament to authorize military support for police and border guards in the fight against smugglers.

On Tuesday, Lukashenko said Lithuania was exaggerating the problem.

“I think the president of Belarus is sincerely trying to calm the situation. It's going to take some time, but I think it can be resolved. He wants normal relations with his neighbors, that's what he conveyed to me,” Coale said.

“I know that Lithuania has done everything in its power to stop those receiving the cigarettes or what they are receiving. So, from my point of view, both sides are working in that direction,” he added.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on December 1 that the situation at the border was worsening and called the balloon incursions a “hybrid attack” by Belarus that was “completely unacceptable”.

Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko released 123 detainees on Saturday, including Nobel Peace Prize laureate Ales Bialiatski and prominent opposition figure Maria Kalesnikava, after two days of talks with Trump's emissary.

In return, the United States agreed to lift sanctions on Belarusian potash. Potassium is an essential element in fertilizer production, and the former Soviet state is one of the world's largest producers of potassium.