Belarus has pardoned 52 prisoners and released them into Lithuania, Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda said on Thursday, as the Baltic nation and Belarus both thanked US President Donald Trump for his involvement. It is the latest release of political prisoners by Belarus amid warming relations between Washington and Minsk. A Trump administration official said the United States would ease some sanctions on Belarus' state-run airline, Belavia, "based on the prisoner releases to date and constructive engagement." In a statement on social media, Nausėda hailed the release of the political prisoners, saying "No man left behind!" "52 prisoners safely crossed the Lithuanian border from Belarus today, leaving behind barbed wire, barred windows and constant fear," the Lithuanian president wrote, adding that he is personally and "deeply grateful" to the US and Trump. "52 is a lot. A great many," he added. "Yet more than 1,000 political prisoners still remain in Belarusian prisons and we cannot stop until they see freedom!" Their release comes after Belarus' strongman leader Alexander Lukashenko met Thursday with senior Trump administraiton official John Coale, who traveled to Minsk at Trump's direction. The two discussed "a range of issues, including additional prisoner releases and regional security issues, like ending the weaponization of illegal migration from Belarus into neighboring NATO countries," the Trump administration official said. Coale informed Lukashenko of the easing of certain sanctions on Belavia, the official said, noting that this "limited relief package will allow Belavia to service and buy components for its existing fleet, which includes Boeing aircraft." The US welcomed the release of the political prisoners, and the official said they would "continue to work to free the nearly 1,300 remaining political prisoners in Belarus." Lukashenko announced that 14 foreign nationals are among those Belarus released "at the request of the President of the United States," according to his presidential pool. Those released include six Lithuanian nationals, two Latvians, two Poles, two Germans, and one person each from France and the United Kingdom, the pool said. Belarus said Coale indicated the US wants to reopen its embassy in Minsk, but he did not specify a date. Belarus also said Coale passed along a letter from Trump and the American first lady, in which they wished Lukashenko well, and presented him with a gift of cufflinks featuring an image of the White House. "No matter how banal it may sound, I want to thank your President (Trump) – not because I want to flatter him, that's foreign to me – for the efforts he is making toward peace, primarily in our region," Lukashenko said in an opening statement at the meeting. Russian state media TASS reported that the 52 people were pardoned "on humanitarian grounds" and "as a gesture of goodwill" following the request of Trump and other world leaders. Nausėda confirmed that six Lithuanians have been freed. Polish state media also reported that Polish nationals have been pardoned. However, a full list of the pardoned prisoners has not yet been released. The human rights group Viasna said in a post on Telegram that among those released is Mikola Statkevich, a former Belarusian presidential candidate and political prisoner who was detained in 2020 and sentenced to 14 years in a penal colony. Nothing had been known about his condition since February 9, 2023, Viasna said. Human rights activists and independent Belarusian media have reported the release of other prominent political prisoners, including activist and philosopher Uladzimir Matskevich and Lithuanian citizen Elena Romanauskiene. Earlier this year, Belarus freed Sergey Tikhanovsky, a key dissident figure and the husband of exiled opposition leader Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, following another rare visit by a senior US official, Tikhanovskaya's team announced in June. – CNN
