"Last week, my Special Representative for Belarus, John Cole, following talks with President Alexander Lukashenko, secured the release of another 250 political prisoners," Trump said. According to him, the total number of prisoners released by Lukashenko since last May has already exceeded 500.
"I want to express my sincere gratitude to Lukashenko for this and look forward to the next Peace Council meeting with him," the U.S. president concluded.
Background
As a reminder, on March 19, U.S. Special Representative John Cole arrived in Minsk for a visit, where he met with Alexander Lukashenko. The parties discussed the normalization of diplomatic missions, prospects for economic cooperation, and the issue of releasing political prisoners, which is important to the West. At the same time, Lukashenko stated that there is no concept of a “political prisoner” in Belarusian law.
Additionally, during his visit to Minsk, Cole discussed a possible visit by Lukashenko to the United States.
