Belarusian President, Alexander Lukashenko has pressed the United States to lift remaining sanctions against his country as he met with U.S. special envoy for Belarus John Coale, highlighting economic ties and the possibility of further agreements between Washington and Minsk.
Speaking during the meeting, Lukashenko pointed out that Belarus and the United States had already reached several understandings concerning their economic relationship and urged Washington to help resolve outstanding financial restrictions. “We have reached quite a few agreements related to our economic ties,” Lukashenko said, while specifically asking for assistance in unblocking Belarusian assets that he said were “stuck in Citibank.”
Lukashenko also indicated that he was prepared to pursue further agreements with Washington, regardless of their scale. “I’m open for discussing a deal big or small,” he said.
Among the issues he sought to raise with the U.S. administration are the prospects for lifting additional sanctions and expanding Belarusian fertilizer exports to the American market.
The talks come against the backdrop of a series of U.S.-mediated agreements under President Donald Trump that have seen Belarus release political prisoners in exchange for limited sanctions relief.
Since Trump returned to the White House, Lukashenko has released hundreds of detainees in deals brokered with U.S. involvement. In March, Washington helped secure an agreement under which Belarus released 250 political prisoners. In return, the United States lifted sanctions on two Belarusian state banks and the Belarusian Finance Ministry and removed leading Belarusian potash producers from a sanctions list.
A subsequent agreement in April resulted in the release of prominent journalist Andrzej Poczobut as part of a broader arrangement with Poland that saw 10 people freed.
The prisoner releases have provided a rare channel of engagement between Washington and Minsk, despite the longstanding tensions surrounding Lukashenko’s government and its close relationship with Russia.
Lukashenko has sought to use the negotiations to secure further economic concessions, while the United States has placed political prisoners and human rights concerns at the centre of its engagement with Belarus.
The Belarusian opposition has welcomed Coale’s involvement, particularly his focus on securing the release of detainees, but has warned that the humanitarian progress remains incomplete.
Belarusian opposition leader-in-exile Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya stated that she was deeply grateful to Trump, Coale and the U.S. administration for “making political prisoners a priority,” arguing that their involvement had already produced tangible results.
However, she stressed that the situation inside Belarus remained serious, saying that “repression continues” and that Lukashenko “continues supporting Russia’s war.” “The purpose should be to empty the prisons, not to rehabilitate the dictatorship,” Tsikhanouskaya said.
According to the Viasna human rights centre, Belarus still has 912 political prisoners, including 20 journalists. The figure contrasts sharply with Lukashenko’s position that Belarus does not hold people for political reasons.
Speaking during his meeting with Coale, the Belarusian President rejected claims that his government was continuing to imprison political opponents while releasing others. “There is no need for us to persecute anyone for political reasons today,” Lukashenko said.
He dismissed claims that his government was replacing released prisoners with new detainees, arguing that such allegations were part of a narrative promoted by Belarusian opponents in the West.
“The fugitives are spreading a narrative in the West … that while we are releasing some people, we are continuing repressions and detaining twice as many in their place. That is absolutely untrue!”
Alexander Lukashenko
UN Experts Warn Of Continuing Repression
The dispute over the treatment of political opponents has also drawn renewed scrutiny from the United Nations, with a group of UN experts warning that Belarusian authorities were continuing to use the criminal justice system as a tool of political repression.
In a report issued today, the experts said that government opponents were being systematically targeted and persecuted, raising concerns about the continuing human rights situation in the country. “The international community must not look away,” expert Susan Bazilli said.
She added that those responsible for serious human rights violations must be held to account. “Those responsible for serious human rights violations must know that impunity is not a permanent shield, and victims must know that their rights have not been forgotten,” Bazilli said.
The UN warning comes as Lukashenko seeks deeper economic engagement with Washington and further relief from sanctions. While prisoner releases have created space for diplomatic engagement, the contrasting assessments of the human rights situation suggest that sanctions relief and political repression will remain closely linked to the future of U.S.-Belarus relations.
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