Belarus leader hosts US envoy for talks, latest step in his effort to improve ties with Washington

Authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko on Thursday hosted a US envoy for talks in the Belarus capital of Minsk, the latest step in the isolated leader’s effort to improve ties with the West.

Lukashenko met with President Donald Trump’s special envoy for Belarus, John Coale, according to the presidential press service.  State news agency Belta quoted Lukashenko as saying topics on the agenda include restoring the normal functioning of the US Embassy in Minsk, which suspended operations in 2022, the “release of so-called political prisoners,” as well as sanctions and other economic issues.

The last time US officials met with Lukashenko, in December, Washington announced easing some of the sanctions against Belarus, and 123 prisoners were released and sent to Ukraine and Lithuania. Belarus has released hundreds of prisoners since July 2024 in what was widely seen as an effort at a rapprochement with the West.

A close ally of Russia, Minsk has faced Western isolation and sanctions for years. Lukashenko has ruled the nation of 9.5 million with an iron fist for more than three decades, and the country has been sanctioned repeatedly by Western countries - both for its crackdown on human rights and for allowing Moscow to use its territory in the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

Lukashenko’s rule was challenged after a 2020 presidential election that kept him in power, when tens of thousands of people poured into the streets to protest a vote widely seen as rigged. They were the largest demonstrations in Belarus’ history, after the country became independent following the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union.

In an ensuing crackdown, tens of thousands of people were detained, with many beaten by police. Prominent opposition figures either fled the country or were imprisoned.