Trump's post appeared on the social media platform Truth Social on Sunday. “Last week, my envoy to Belarus, John Coale, after negotiations with the highly respected President Alexander Lukashenko, led to the release of another 250 political prisoners! Thus, the total number of prisoners graciously released by President Lukashenko since May last year exceeded 500,” said the US president.
“I would like to thank the president sincerely for this and I look forward to meeting him at the next meeting of the Peace Council!” – he added.
Donald Trump's entryTruthSocial
Donald Trump's Peace Council
Belarus is one of the members of the Peace Council created by Trump, but it did not take part in the inaugural meeting in Washington in February because the head of Belarusian diplomacy, Maksym Ryzhenkov, did not receive a visa. The date of the next meeting has not been set yet.
However, Trump's entry suggests that he may meet with Lukashenko, as the Belarusian dictator had previously suggested. It would be his first meeting with an American president in more than 30 years of rule. On Friday, the White House announced that it had no plans to meet with Lukashenko yet, although it did not rule out the possibility of one happening.
— President Trump has made clear that he is willing to meet with anyone if it is beneficial to U.S. interests. Although there are no current plans to meet Belarusian President Lukashenko, we see this latest prisoner release as another constructive step towards improving our bilateral relations with Belarus, a senior administration official told PAP, referring to Minsk's decision last week to release 250 political prisoners.
