Nobel Peace Prize winner among those released after US agrees to lift sanctions on potash
Belarusian civil rights activist Tatsiana Khomich holds a picture of her detained sister Maria Kalesnikava, as she attends the Charlemagne Prize presentation ceremony, on behalf of her sister, in Aachen, Germany, on May 26, 2022. Maria Kalesnikava was one of 123 political prisoners freed on Saturday. (Photo: Reuters)
Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko ordered the release of 123 political prisoners, pushing his opponents into exile hours after the United States announced it would lift sanctions on his country’s potash industry.
Lukashenko pardoned the group after two days of talks with President Donald Trump’s special envoy for Belarus, John Coale, according to the state-run Belarusian news service Belta.
The human rights group Viasna said those freed on Saturday included Maria Kalesnikava, a flute player who became one of the public faces of pro-democracy protests and was jailed for 11 years in 2021.
Nobel Peace Prize laureate Ales Bialiatskiwho was sentenced to 10 years in 2023, was also freed and forcibly deported to Lithuania, according to Viasna, which he founded.
Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on X that five Ukrainian citizens were among those freed in the US-brokered deal.
The announcements follow Trump’s push to rebuild ties with the authoritarian Lukashenko, a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin who allowed Russian troops to invade Ukraine from Belarusian territory in 2022.
Potash is one of Belarus’s key exports and its only abundant mineral resource, with Belaruskali, Uralkali of Russia and North American producers Nutrien and Mosaic the four largest global suppliers. After the US sanctioned Belaruskali in 2021, the country redirected potash sales through Russia, increasing Lukashenko’s economic dependence on the Kremlin.
“With Russia’s market for Belarusian products shrinking and competition intensifying, Minsk begins to see value in restoring some relations with the Western world,” said Artyom Shraibman, non-resident scholar at the Carnegie Russia Eurasia Centre.
The US removal of sanctions may do little to weaken Belarus’ dependence on Russia for potash transit unless the European Union lifts its own ban. EU restrictions over the war forbid the flow of Belarus-made potash through Lithuania, once the key export hub for the fertilisers, to the Baltic Sea port of Klaipeda.
More than 1,200 detainees in Belarus were recognized internationally as political prisoners before the latest releases, according to Viasna.
Coale met in September with Lukashenko, who pushed 52 political prisoners into exile abroad. The president acknowledged Trump’s focus on the issue, saying he was ready to reach “a big deal” on further releases, even as his security services continued to make new arrests.
The US Treasury Department announced it was removing Belarus’ state-owned Belavia Airlines from its sanctions list at the same time as the earlier prisoner releases were announced.
The thawing of ties between Washington and Minsk comes as the EU has accused Belarus of waging hybrid attacks on Lithuania with incursions of hot-air balloons carrying contraband that repeatedly force the closure of the airport in the capital, Vilnius.
Lithuania declared a state of emergency this week over the balloons. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the EU is “preparing further measures” against Belarus under its sanctions regime, calling the situation “completely unacceptable”.
Iron fist
Lukashenko, 71, has ruled over Belarus with an iron fist for more than three decades with political and economic support from Russia in return for loyalty as part of a so-called Union State. Putin announced in 2023 that Russia had moved tactical nuclear weapons to Belarus amid the confrontation with the West over his war in Ukraine.
Lukashenko faced an unprecedented challenge in 2020 when pro-democracy protests erupted after the election that Tsikhanouskaya was widely perceived to have won. The US, the EU and the UK all rejected Lukashenko’s claim that he won the election with 80% and sanctioned his regime over a brutal police crackdown.
Opposition leaders were jailed and thousands of people fled Belarus.
Tsikhanouskaya has in exile lobbied world leaders to increase pressure on Belarus to free political prisoners while criticizing their forced deportation. She said the opposition is asking the US to help negotiate conditions that would allow activists to return home and rebuild the country.
“What we underline to our American partners is that our goal is to secure irreversible changes in Belarus,” Tsikhanouskaya said. “Only the end of repressions can bring political stability.”
