Washington eases sanctions on Minsk as Belarus releases 250 prisoners

2026-03-19 20:46:03, Kosova & Bota CNA

The United States has lifted sanctions on several Belarusian entities and the country's Finance Minister, while Belarus has announced the release of hundreds of prisoners, including political prisoner Kim Samusenko and journalist Ekaterina Andreeva.

US Special Envoy John Coale announced the easing of sanctions on Belinvestbank and the Development Bank of Belarus, along with the lifting of all sanctions on potash companies Belaruskali, Belarusian Potash ‌Company and Agrorozkvit, following a meeting he held on March 19 with Belarusian leader Aleksandr Lukashenko in Minsk.

In the deal, Coale said 250 prisoners held in Belarus were being released, in what he called “an important humanitarian step and a testament to the president’s [US Donald Trump’s] commitment to direct and decisive diplomacy.” Of these, 15 were sent to neighboring Lithuania, while the others were released within the country.

"Kim Samusenko is free!!! Details later. Many thanks to everyone who supported our family! Many thanks to all democratic political and public forces that made his release possible!" his wife, Alesya Zhitkova, wrote on Facebook.

Andreeva, a journalist for Belsat who was held in prison for more than five years for live-streaming the brutal police crackdown on a peaceful rally organized for Roman Bandarenka, who was killed by security forces, was now in Lithuania, her family told Radio Free Europe's Belarusian service.

The prisoner release is the latest sign of a softening of relations between the US and Minsk since Trump returned to the White House in January 2025.

In December, 123 prisoners were released under an agreement that also included the leader of the 2020 protests, Maryya Kalesnikava, Nobel Prize laureate Ales Byalyatski, as well as citizens of several other countries.

Belarus has been subject to harsh Western sanctions imposed after Minsk's cooperation with Russia over the 2022 invasion of Ukraine and the brutal suppression of civil society, after authoritarian leader Lukashenko declared victory in the 2020 elections, which many Western countries have described as "rigged."

Although Belarus has carried out a series of prisoner releases, hundreds of people - many of whom are classified as political prisoners - remain behind bars, according to the human rights group Vyasna./REL