US lifts sanctions on Belarusian potash, Lukashenko releases 123 more political prisoners
The US presidential envoy announced the lifting of sanctions on Belarusian potash fertilisers. In return, Aliaksandr Lukashenka released a large group of political prisoners, including Nobel Peace Prize laureate Ales Bialiatski and one of the opposition leaders Maria Kolesnikova
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00:00Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko pardoned 123 political prisoners on Saturday.
00:06Among those released are Nobel laureate Aless Bialatsky and opposition leaders Viktor Babarika and Maria Kolesnikova.
00:13Their release was the result of an agreement reached with the United States to lift sanctions on Belarusian potash fertilizer exports.
00:20U.S. Special Envoy John Cole announced the sanctions relief after productive talks with Lukashenko in Minsk on Friday and Saturday.
00:27The potash industry represents about 4% of Belarus' GDP and was sanctioned after the disputed 2020 election.
00:35Cole said more sanctions could be lifted as relations normalize.
00:39All freed prisoners are deported, including the forcibly exiled 109 Belarusian citizens to Ukraine.
00:46From her office in Vilnius, Svetlana Tikhanoskaya, widely regarded as the legitimate representative of the people of Belarus, reported that some prisoners are also sent to Lithuania.
00:55Bialatsky is currently at the U.S. Embassy in Vilnius.
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