U.S.–Belarus Relations

Belarus pardoned 123 prisoners — including Nobel Peace laureate Ales Bialiatski and opposition leader Maria Kolesnikova, as well as figures like Viktar Babaryka, Viasna activists Valiantsin Stefanovic and Uladzimir Labkovich, and Maxim Znak — a group that reportedly included a U.S. citizen, six citizens of allied countries and five Ukrainians. The releases followed two days of talks in Minsk after which U.S. special envoy John Coale said Washington would lift sanctions on Belarus’s potash sector; Bialiatski, freed after 1,613 days in prison, appeared pale and emaciated and said he would continue to advocate for remaining prisoners.