The White House has invited Aleksandr Lukashenko to visit the US, Minsk says after a meeting with Trump's emissary
Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko may soon visit the United States, a US emissary said on Thursday, a trip that would mark a major advance for the authoritarian leader as he seeks to end isolation imposed by the West over its crackdown on opposition and assistance given to Russia in the early stages of its invasion of Ukraine.
According to Belarusian media, US envoy John Coale made the announcement after meeting again in Minsk with Lukashenko to negotiate the release of Belarusian political prisoners.
Belarusian state media quoted Coale as saying the two sides were working to arrange a visit by Lukashenko. He added that they also discussed the possible reopening of the US embassy in Minsk, which Washington closed after Belarus allowed Russia to invade Ukraine from its territory in February 2022.
In exchange for normalizing relations, the US is pressing Lukashenko to release what human rights groups say are more than 1,100 Belarusians currently in detention for political or human rights activities.
US-Belarus negotiations after Donald Trump's return to power
There was no immediate word from either side on any additional releases that might result from Thursday's talks.
Lukashenko, greeting Coale with a hug, said he was ready to “discuss any issue and answer any questions” but also wanted to address the crisis in Ukraine and the war in Iran, where he said the United States was “fighting our friends”.
Previous talks between the two led to the release of dozens of political prisoners last September and another 123 in December, including Nobel Peace Prize laureate Ales Bialiatski and opposition politicians Maria Kolesnikova and Viktar Babarika.
The US responded by lifting sanctions on Belarusian potash – a key ingredient in fertilizers and an important source of export revenue for the former Soviet republic.
Dissidents say that Lukashenko has not changed anything in Belarus
Lukashenko, in power since 1994, has long been treated as a pariah by the West because of his human rights record and his support for Russia in the Ukraine conflict.
Exiled Belarusian opposition leader Svetlana Tihanovskaia said she welcomed the Trump administration's humanitarian effort to secure the prisoners' release.
“But at the same time, we must insist on real, systemic changes in Belarus – an end to repression and the holding of free and fair elections,” she said.
“We need a genuine dialogue, not between the West and Lukashenko, but with Belarusian society. Only this can lead to real changes in Belarus,” Tihanovskaia said.
