Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has released 25 political prisoners following negotiations with US President's special representative John Cole. In exchange, the United States will lift sanctions on two Belarusian enterprises.

"As a symbol of good will, Belarus will release 25 people. The United States, in turn, will remove sanctions from two Belarusian companies — Lakokraska and Bellesbumprom," said the US special representative. "The parties will continue working on resolving the remaining issues on the agenda. After all issues are fully resolved and bilaterally agreed, other individuals will be released and sanctions will be lifted from Belarusian companies," Cole added.

According to Zerkalo publication, among those released are Lyudmila Chekina, CEO of Tut.by, Dmitry Novozhilov, director of the BelaPAN news agency, and musicians of the Tor Band group — Yevgeny Burlo, Dmitry Golovach, and Andrey Yaremchik. All released individuals have left Belarus and arrived in Lithuania.

Earlier, in March 2026, Belarus released 250 political prisoners, in response to which the US lifted sanctions on Belarusian potash and banks. In December 2025, Alexander Lukashenko also pardoned 123 prisoners in exchange for easing American restrictions. Among them were Belarusian opposition leader Maria Kolesnikova, banker Viktor Babariko, and 2022 Nobel Peace Prize laureate Ales Bialiatski. Also, in September and June 2025, groups of 52 and 14 political prisoners were released.

According to the Vesna human rights center, more than 900 political prisoners are currently held in Belarusian prisons. According to Reuters, the most common charges against them include extremism, conspiracy to seize power, incitement to hatred, or insulting the president.

Source: www.gazeta.uz