Belarus releases 25 prisoners in exchange for US lifting sanctions on two companies

BELTA cited Coale as saying that more prisoners would be released and more sanctions lifted once all issues between the US and Belarus, a close Russian ally, have been resolved.Follow us on GoogleFILE PHOTO: Released political prisoners arrive in Vilnius after a prisoner release from Belarus on March 19, 2026. Belarus freed 250 political prisoners on March 19, 2026 following negotiations with the United States.(photo credit: Petras Malukas/AFP/GettyImages)SEPTEMBER 16, 2026 12:29Updated: SEPTEMBER 16, 2026 13:12Belarus has agreed to free 25 prisoners in return for a further easing of US sanctions, an envoy for US President Donald Trump said on Wednesday.The deal was part of lengthy negotiations in which Washington is urging Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko to free hundreds of people, including human rights campaigners, political activists, journalists and lawyers, in exchange for sanctions relief and an easing of his international isolation.Trump's envoy, John Coale, told reporters in the Belarusian capital Minsk: "We agreed to an interim deal, and as a show of goodwill Belarus will release 25 people and in exchange the United States will lift sanctions on two companies."The figure of 25 was much lower than the 250 that Coale persuaded Lukashenko to release when he last visited Minsk in March.The American said both sides would work to resolve outstanding issues to pave the way for another prisoner release and the removal of further sanctions.Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko attends a meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Council of Heads of State in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan September 1, 2026. (credit: Sputnik/Vyacheslav Prokofyev/Pool via Reuters)"We will continue to improve US-Belarus relations and are working to secure the release of more people in the very near future. We are not finished!" he posted later on X/Twitter.Belarusian human rights group Viasna said a new round of prisoner pardons had started, and relatives of some detainees had been told they could collect their loved ones from penal colonies on Wednesday morning.Belarus's Lukashenko denies replacing some prisoners with othersViasna, which is banned in Belarus, says the former Soviet state still holds more than 900 political prisoners, even after Coale negotiated the release of hundreds since the middle of last year.Among the most frequent charges against them are "extremist" activity, conspiring to seize power, incitement to hatred, or insulting the president.At Tuesday's talks with Coale, Lukashenko denied the people in question were political prisoners and rejected assertions by rights groups and the exiled opposition that he is steadily arresting more people to replace those he releases.The two companies to be removed from US sanctions are Lakokraska, a manufacturer of paints and industrial coatings, and Bellesbumprom, a state-owned industrial concern that oversees the forestry, pulp and paper sectors. Sanctions against them had been in place since 2008 and 2023, respectively.Coale also promised Lukashenko on Tuesday to get US banks to hand back tens of millions of dollars in frozen Belarusian assets.Coale's efforts since last year have led to the release, among many others, of Nobel Peace Prize winner Ales Bialiatski and leading opposition figures. His diplomacy has earned gratitude from many Belarusians, while also raising concerns."We should use every opportunity to save lives. But we should not confuse releases with political change. Repression continues, and Lukashenko continues supporting Russia's war (in Ukraine)," exiled opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya said in comments to Reuters on Tuesday."The purpose should be to empty the prisons, not to rehabilitate the dictatorship."Follow us on Google