Belarus has freed 123 prisoners, including protest leader Maria Kolesnikova, rights groups and state media reported on Saturday, after a US envoy earlier said Washington was lifting sanctions on Belarusian potassium, APA reports, citing Al Arabiya.
“The head of state has decided to pardon 123 citizens of various countries,” the Belarusian state news agency Belta said.
Rights group Viasna said prominent 2020 protests leader Maria Kolesnikova was among them.
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The United States is lifting sanctions on Belarusian potash, President Donald Trump's envoy John Coale said on Saturday after two days of talks in Minsk with President Alexander Lukashenko, APA reports, citing Reuters.
Coale, who has been tasked by Trump with negotiating the release of more than 1,000 political prisoners, described it as a good move for Belarus but did not say what Lukashenko had agreed to do in return.
"Per the instructions of President Trump, we, the United States, will be lifting sanctions on potash," Coale was heard saying in video footage published by the Telegram channel of Lukashenko's presidential administration.
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