Tsikhanouskaya: I hope we will soon see another release of political prisoners

Trump’s special envoy John Coale was expected to visit Belarus again in May, but the trip was ultimately postponed. In one of Euroradio’s broadcasts, political analyst Arkady Moshes (Finnish Institute of International Affairs) expressed doubts that negotiations between Washington and Minsk would continue in the near future.

However, Belarusian democratic opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya recently spoke with Coale and says that such a forecast is overly pessimistic.

"The negotiations are continuing. They are proceeding with considerable difficulty, I want to stress that, but this is clearly not the end of the negotiation process. Therefore, I hope — and I will not give any specific timeframe — that we will see the release of another group of people fairly soon," Tsikhanouskaya said on Euroradio.

Tsikhanouskaya added that discussions about the release of each group of political prisoners involve a number of issues. For example, whether they will be able to remain in Belarus or will be forced to leave, and if so, where they will go, under what conditions, and with what documents.

"All of this has to be discussed, and the regime’s positions can change every day. That is why I would not be as pessimistic as Mr. Moshes."

However, Tsikhanouskaya reminds that Belarus is "a hostage to a broader geopolitical context," meaning that developments in the war in Ukraine and the possibility of Belarus being drawn into it also have an impact.

"But there [in the United States] they have not lost their determination to save all hostages from Belarusian prisons. They understand President Trump’s words very well. At least 1,300 hostages must be released. And that is what his team is working on."