Belarus frees 52 political prisoners as US lifts some sanctions on its
national airline
[September 12, 2025]
By YURAS KARMANAU and LIUDAS DAPKUS
VILNIUS, Lithuania (AP) — Belarus freed 52 political prisoners on
Thursday as part of a deal brokered by the United States, which lifted
some sanctions on the country’s national airline.
It was another sign of a possible rapprochement between Washington and
Minsk, a close ally of Russia that has faced Western isolation for
years. U.S. President Donald Trump and Belarus’ Alexander Lukashenko
spoke on the phone last month, and the American leader even suggested a
face-to-face meeting could be in the works.
That would be a big win for Lukashenko, who has ruled his nation of 9.5
million with an iron fist for more than three decades. Belarus has been
repeatedly sanctioned by Western countries both for its crackdown on
human rights and allowing Moscow to use its territory in the invasion of
Ukraine in 2022.
But more recently, Lukashenko has sought to mend ties with the West in
the hopes of easing the sanctions. He has regularly released prisoners
as a way to win favor, including freeing Siarhei Tsikhanouski, a key
dissident and the husband of exiled opposition leader Sviatlana
Tsikhanouskaya, in June.
The concession from the U.S. came a day after Poland denounced an
incursion of Russian drones into its territory — saying some came from
Belarus — in what Western officials called an act of aggression. NATO
jets were scrambled and shot some of the drones down.
Trump, whose country is the major military power in NATO, offered an
ambiguous initial response to the incursion, posting on his Truth Social
platform: “What’s with Russia violating Poland’s airspace with drones?
Here we go!”
Sanctions on Belavia eased
Trump envoy John Coale announced the lifting of sanctions at a meeting
with Lukashenko in Minsk on Thursday.
Some sanctions on Belarus national carrier, Belavia, were relaxed in
light of prisoner releases so far, according to a U.S. official, who
spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss private diplomatic
conversations. That will allow the airline to repair and buy parts for
its planes, including Boeing aircraft.
The airline was sanctioned by the European Union, the U.S., and others
after Belarusian flight controllers ordered a commercial jet traveling
from Greece to Lithuania to land in Minsk. Once the plane landed,
authorities arrested Raman Pratasevich, a dissident journalist who was
on board.
Lukashenko, who has relied on Russia’s loans and cheap energy to keep
Belarus’ economy afloat, called the Thursday move “very important.”
Opposition leader Tsikhanouskaya warned that the easing of sanctions
could allow Moscow, whose aviation industry is sanctioned, to get
airplane parts through Belavia.
“We understand that this is part of the deal,” she told The Associated
Press. “But lifting sanctions without systemic changes in the country
could open loopholes that both the Lukashenko regime and Russia will use
to circumvent the sanctions.”
That could also create new opportunities for Belarus in its relationship
with Russia. Minsk will be able to resell the parts to Moscow “at a very
favorable price,” said independent analyst Valery Karbalevich, and it
makes “the Kremlin's leash" on Belarus "a little longer.”
One prisoner released refuses to go to Lithuania
One of the prisoners released Thursday, veteran opposition activist
Mikalai Statkevich, refused to cross into Lithuania and tried to return
to Belarus, but was blocked by the border guards, Anatol Lyabedzka, of
Tsikhanouskaya’s team, told AP in a phone interview from a Lithuanian
border crossing where the prisoners were handed over.
“He decided not to let Lukashenko kick him out of the country and is
resisting a forced deportation,” Lyabedzka said.
Maksim Viniarski, another freed dissident, told AP that Statkevich
repeatedly demanded to stop the bus taking him, Viniarski and others to
Lithuania and let him out. As the bus entered the no-man's land between
Belarus and Lithuania, “emaciated, yet determined to resist” Statkevich
hit an emergency stop button, opened the door and got out. “Statkevich
said that he won't leave the country and that he didn't need anyone to
sell him out,” Viniarski said.
For a while, Statkevich remained in the no-man’s land, but then
Belarusian security operatives took him in the direction of the
Belarusian border crossing, Lyabedzka said.
[to top of second column]
|
In this photo released by Belarusian presidential press service,
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, right, and U.S.
Presidential envoy John Coale shake hands during their meeting in
Minsk, Belarus, Thursday, Sept. 11, 2025. (Belarusian Presidential
Press Service via AP)
Statkevich's refusal recalled a similar one by Maria Kolesnikova, a
key leader in the mass protests that rocked Belarus in 2020. She
became a symbol of Belarusian resistance after the authorities tried
to deport her in September 2020. Driven to the Ukrainian border, she
briefly broke away from security forces, tore up her passport, and
walked back into Belarus. She was convicted a year later on charges
including conspiracy to seize power and sentenced to 11 years in
prison.
The other 51 freed prisoners have crossed into Lithuania, Lyabedzka
said.
Statkevich, one of Lukashenko’s most prominent and charismatic
opponents, attempted to run for president in 2010, but was arrested,
convicted on charges of organizing mass riots and sentenced to six
years. Amnesty International recognized him as a prisoner of
conscience, and in 2015 he was released under pressure from the U.S.
Statkevich was arrested again before the 2020 elections, found
guilty once more of organizing mass riots, and sentenced to another
14 years. He has been held incommunicado since February 2023.
Also among those released were Ihar Losik, a journalist for U.S.
government-funded broadcaster Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, as
well other journalists and bloggers, party and union leaders, and 14
foreigners.
Franak Viachorka, Tsikhanouskaya’s senior advisor, told AP that
while most of the released Belarusians are in “normal physical and
psychological condition,” some need urgent medical care.
Elena Ramanauskienė — a Lithuanian who was detained in Belarus while
visiting, convicted of espionage and sentenced to six years — burst
into tears after stepping from the bus that brought her and some of
the others back, and thanked those who made her release possible.
But some Belarusians viewed their release differently. Larysa
Shchyrakova, a 52-year-old journalist who was almost done serving
her 3 1/2-year prison term in her hometown of Gomel, said she was
“deported.”
“I have no home, no relatives here – nothing," Shchyrakova told
reporters in Vilnius. "My mother died while I was in prison, so now
I can’t even go to her grave.”
Almost 1,200 political prisoners remain behind bars in Belarus,
according to human rights group Viasna, and Trump has said he wants
to win the release of more.
Warming ties?
There have been signs of Trump seeking a thaw with Lukashenko — much
as he has with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Soon after hosting Putin for talks in Alaska last month, Trump
hinted he was working on a deal to win the release of hundreds of
prisoners held in Belarus after holding a “wonderful talk” with
Lukashenko.
Trump announced in a social media posting following the call — his
first publicized engagement with Belarussian leader during his
second term — that the purpose of the conversation was to thank
Lukashenko for the June prisoner release.
But the U.S. leader said the two also talked about the potential
release of many more being held in Belarus.
Trump also added: “I look forward to meeting President Lukashenko in
the future.”
That would be a remarkable turnaround for a leader who has been
widely shunned for his relentless repression of the opposition and
independent media, especially after tens of thousands of people
poured into the streets to protest his reelection in August 2020, in
a vote widely seen as rigged.
In the ensuing crackdown, tens of thousands were detained. Prominent
opposition figures either fled the country or were imprisoned.
Lukashenko has since extended his rule for a seventh term in another
election that the opposition called a farce.
___
Karmanau reported from Barcelona, Spain. Associated Press writers
Dasha Litvinova in Tallinn, Estonia, Katie Marie Davies in
Manchester, England, and Aamer Madhani and Matthew Lee in Washington
contributed.
All contents © copyright 2025 Associated Press. All rights reserved |
