The United States is considering the possibility of officially inviting Alexander Lukashenko to meet with President Donald Trump. As reported by the Financial Times, negotiations on a visit by the Belarusian leader to Washington or the Mar-a-Lago residence have been ongoing for several months.
The US leader’s special envoy John Cole confirmed that the parties are actively working on diplomatic warming, although a final decision on the format and date of the meeting has not yet been made.
“We still have a lot of work to do to achieve the goal, but I think we will achieve it,” the diplomat emphasized.
Alexander Lukashenko himself recently announced that he had received an invitation to discuss a certain “important agreement” that could change the vector of relations between the countries. The intensification of the dialogue has already brought the first significant results in the humanitarian sphere. Last week, after John Cole’s visit to Minsk, 250 political prisoners were released, which became the largest action of this kind.
In total, during the cooperation, it was possible to secure the release of about 500 people, including prominent figures of the Belarusian opposition – Sergei Tikhanovsky, Maria Kolesnikova and Nobel Prize laureate Ales Bialiatsky. Several US citizens and dozens of foreigners were also released. In response to these steps, Washington agreed to lift sanctions restrictions on the Belarusian financial sector, in particular the Ministry of Finance and the Development Bank, as well as large potash enterprises.
The American side emphasizes that further lifting of restrictions directly depends on a steady improvement in the human rights situation in Belarus. John Cole noted that a key condition is the fulfillment of the promise to stop politically motivated arrests.
“The easing of sanctions depends on a steady improvement in behavior and President Lukashenko’s fulfillment of his promise to immediately stop all politically motivated arrests. Ultimately, it depends on the president,” the official added.
At the same time, he refrained from disclosing specific prerequisites for holding a meeting at the highest level, noting that the final word remains with the head of the White House.
Financial Times analysts note that Alexander Lukashenko, who has ruled the country for more than three decades, has traditionally tried to balance the interests of Moscow and the West to strengthen his own position. During Donald Trump’s previous term, Washington already made attempts to reach out to Minsk, trying to support the sovereignty of Belarus. American officials position today’s efforts primarily as a humanitarian mission.
“This is 95% a humanitarian matter. I’m not going to drive a wedge between him and Putin. This is a 30-year relationship. I know who Lukashenko is. But we have a very good relationship. We trust each other. This is Trump, this is Trump-style foreign policy, where you get to know someone,” John Cole explained his position.
Despite significant progress, human rights activists from the Viasna group remind that there are still almost 900 people behind bars in Belarus, whose release the US hopes to achieve by the end of this year.
