An unexpected pause in prisoner releases has alarmed Belarusian opposition, raising fears for detainees\u2019 health and testing US diplomatic strategy.<\/p>\n
London, June 9 (Reuters) \u2013 The U.S. administration told the exiled Belarusian opposition about a delay in efforts to secure the release of more political prisoners of Lukashenko, Reuters reported according to Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya.<\/p>\n
Her words reflect the first public sign of a slowdown in the pace of negotiations led by Ambassador John Cole with the support of the Trump administration, which had led to the release of more than 400 prisoners. The human rights group Viasna says that nearly 870 people remain detained, among them at least 170 are \u201cespecially vulnerable\u201d due to age, illness, or harsh conditions of confinement.<\/p>\n
Tsikhanouskaya told Reuters in an interview that she had been told by the U.S. side that \u201cthe next releases have been postponed for some time,\u201d but she cannot explain the reasons.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe next releases were postponed for some time\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2013 Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya<\/p>\n
\u201cKnowing the reason, I do not care about it. Of course, we want as many people as possible to be released as quickly as possible, and any delay worsens the health of many of them,\u201d she said in English. <\/p>\n
\u201cKnowing the reason, I don\u2019t care about that. Of course, we want more people to be released as quickly as possible, and any delay worsens their health.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2013 Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya<\/p>\n
She also pointed to the positive remarks by Cole, who on June 3 posted on X: \u201cWe are not finished. Keep hope alive!\u201d<\/p>\n
Reuters sought comment from Cole and Lukashenko\u2019s office. Both did not respond.<\/p>\n
RELATIONS WITH THE BELARUSIAN LEADER: A SHIFT IN U.S. POLICY VIEW<\/p>\n
The decision by the United States to begin talks with Lukashenko, a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, marked a sharp departure from the previous Western stance. He had previously been viewed as an isolated figure under strict sanctions for human rights abuses and for backing the war in Ukraine.<\/p>\n
Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, whom Western governments regard as the legitimate winner of the controversial 2020 elections organized by Lukashenko, welcomed the U.S. involvement as an important humanitarian initiative but warned against legitimizing the authoritarian ruler.<\/p>\n
She also does not hide her disappointment at Trump\u2019s public compliments of Lukashenko, whom he called \u201cthe Very Respectable President of Belarus,\u201d but concedes that the U.S. approach still has some effect.<\/p>\n
\u201cNeither President Trump nor those around him are naive \u2013 they understand who they are dealing with, and they can take tactical steps to free people.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2013 Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya<\/p>\n
SANCTIONS RELIEF LINKED TO PRISONER RELEASE<\/p>\n
In a major reversal, the United States announced in December the lifting of sanctions on Belarusian potash fertilizers as a reward for the release of prisoners. However, this did not lead to a significant rise in Lukashenko\u2019s earnings, as EU sanctions remain in place, forcing Belarus to route exports through Russia instead of the more efficient route via the Klaip\u0117da port.<\/p>\n
Last month, Lithuania said the United States is pressuring to restore Belarus\u2019s access to Klaip\u0117da, but Warsaw or Vilnius have refrained from discussing the issue until the EU\u2019s restrictions are fully lifted by February 2027.<\/p>\n
Pavel Slunkin, a former Belarusian diplomat and now an independent analyst in Warsaw, believes that Lukashenko\u2019s disappointment at the inability to engage Europeans in dialogue likely led to delays in negotiations over prisoner releases.<\/p>\n
\u201cPerhaps the Americans promised Lukashenka something they cannot fulfill.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2013 Pavel Slunkin<\/p>\n
DIPLOMACY AND VODKA<\/p>\n
Cole, 79, was appointed by Trump last year to lead negotiations with Lukashenko. He built rapport with the former head of a state farm during hours of talks and meals with vodka to stay sober during the discussions.<\/p>\n
Among the hundreds of future released prisoners are Nobel Peace Prize laureate Ales Bialiatski and leading opposition figures, including Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya\u2019s husband, Siarhei Tsikhanouski.<\/p>\n
On April 24, Cole told Reuters that he expected to release more prisoners the following month. However, six weeks later, that did not happen.<\/p>\n
On June 4, Cole rebutted claims by Valery Tsepkalo, a Belarusian opposition politician and former U.S. ambassador, that Lukashenko refused to meet him in May.<\/p>\n
RISING TENSIONS<\/p>\n
A gradual pause in negotiations came amid rising tensions between Lukashenko and the West. Belarus conducted joint nuclear drills with Russia, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said Moscow is trying to draw Belarus further into the war.<\/p>\n
Arrests of Lukashenko\u2019s critics continue, although Cole said this should stop. Tsikhanouskaya noted that people are being arrested \u201cdaily,\u201d but exact statistics are unavailable due to fears among relatives of those in power.<\/p>\n
The human rights group Viasna reported at least 50 convictions since December that it considers politically motivated. Last month, 32 names were added to the list of political prisoners.<\/p>\n
Tsikhanouskaya told Reuters that Lukashenko uses \u201crevolving doors\u201d \u2013 replacing old prisoners with new ones to preserve leverage for bargaining and pressure.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe wants to get a Lamborghini for the price of a bicycle. Take a lot, give little.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2013 Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya<\/p>\n
\u201cIf Americans and Europeans do not take a principled stance, we will repeat the same cycle: Lukashenko will be deceiving, sanctions will be lifted, and the regime will remain \u2013 without systemic changes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2013 Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya<\/p>\n
Despite the criticism, Tsikhanouskaya emphasizes the value of U.S. engagement in negotiations as a humanitarian step, but notes that legitimizing Lukashenko is unacceptable, and calls for commitments to real change in the Belarusian regime.<\/p>\n
Still, the negotiation process continues, and Western and Belarusian actors remain engaged in the dialogue. It is important to keep focus on human rights and transparency of actions by all participants so that positive steps do not fade away.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"An unexpected pause in prisoner releases has alarmed Belarusian opposition, raising fears for detainees\u2019 health and testing US…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":928,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[387,386,388,95,389,71,390],"class_list":["post-927","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news","tag-belarus-political-prisoners","tag-belarus-political-prisoners-sviatlana-tsikhanouskaya-us-diplomacy-john-cole-prisoner-releases","tag-john-cole","tag-news","tag-prisoner-releases","tag-sviatlana-tsikhanouskaya","tag-us-diplomacy"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/belarus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/927","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/belarus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/belarus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/belarus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/belarus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=927"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/belarus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/927\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/belarus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/928"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/belarus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=927"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/belarus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=927"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/belarus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=927"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}