Lukashenko frees Nobel winner Bialiatski and key Belarus opposition figures in deal with US

VILNIUS, Dec 13 (Reuters) - Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko freed 123 prisoners on Saturday including Nobel Peace Prize winner Ales Bialiatski and leading opposition figure Maria Kalesnikava in a deal brokered by an envoy for U.S. President Donald Trump.

In return, the U.S. agreed to lift sanctions on Belarusian potash. Potash is a key component in fertilisers, and the former Soviet state is a leading global producer.

The prisoner release was by far the biggest by Lukashenko since Trump's administration opened talks this year with the veteran authoritarian leader, a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Western governments had previously shunned him because of his crushing of dissent and backing for Russia's war in Ukraine.

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Trump Got Her Husband Out of Prison in Belarus. Here’s What She Wants Him to Know.
Politico ^ | 07 12 2025 | Gregory Svirnovskiy
Posted on 7/15/2025, 9:25:32 AM by yesthatjallen

Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, an opposition leader in Belarus, hadn’t heard from her husband Siarhei in more than two years. Not since Belarusian authorities placed him in “incommunicado” detention, in full isolation. And then he called her.

“My dear wife,” he said. “I’m free.”

He had been released from prison after negotiations between authoritarian leader Alexander Lukashenko and Trump administration officials, and was at the border between Belarus and Lithuania. He and 13 other political prisoners were heading to the American embassy in Vilnius.

Tsikhanouskaya and Siarhei have since reintroduced him to their children, traveled to a solidarity rally in Poland and done interviews with major news outlets. But both Tsikhanouskaya and her husband, a blogger and political activist who was preparing to challenge Lukashenko in Belarus’ 2020 election when he was imprisoned, are grappling with the opposition’s role in what comes next.

In an interview with POLITICO Magazine, Tsikhanouskaya described the joy of finally reuniting her family even as she said there was far more work to be done. She also made clear that a certain peace-seeking president could help her cause.

“We ask President Trump, go further, free them all,” she said. “Use your influence again. We believe that you can do this, and Belarusians will never forget it.”

SNIP

(Excerpt) Read more at politico.com ...

Suspicious. Potash is something the US desperately needs — aka fertilizer. We produce little.

U.S. potash consumption significantly exceeds domestic production, resulting in high net import reliance. In 2023, the U.S. produced approximately 400,000 metric tons of potash, while consumption reached about 5.3 million metric tons.

This looks like some confusion. We can’t sell crops to China because China gets crops elsewhere, so why would we act to produce even more? There is an unmentioned item, too. The mechanism for “removing potash from sanctions” means SWIFT can process payments to/from Belarus — which of course will be a Russian conduit for more or less anything.

In return some insignificant people are freed?

Definitely suspicious. It looks like the desperation was more on the side of the US than Belarus.

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