US diplomat meets with Łukašenka, grand deal on political prisoners possible – NYT
Alaksandar Łukašenka playing ice hockey (Minsk, February 15)
February 15, Pozirk. Christopher Smith, US deputy assistant secretary of state, met with Alaksandar Łukašenka and Committee for State Security (KGB) chairman Ivan Tertel during his visit to Minsk on Wednesday, The New York Times reports, citing unnamed sources.
The article by Andrew Higgins, the East and Central Europe bureau chief for the American daily, is headlined “A Quick, Quiet Trip to Belarus Signals a Turn in US Policy.”
“It was Mr. Łukašenka’s first meeting with a senior State Department official in five years, and the start of what could be a highly consequential thawing of frozen relations between the United States and Russia’s closest ally,” the article said.
It went on to describe how Smith took the released journalist Andrej Kuźniečyk, protester Alena Maŭšuk and unnamed US citizen out of Belarus.
According to the daily, on Thursday, Smith held a briefing for diplomats in Vilnius.
He told them that the next step “is a possible grand bargain under which Mr. Łukašenka would release a slew of political prisoners, including prominent ones,” according to people in attendance. “In return, the United States would relax sanctions on Belarusian banks and exports of potash.”
The information was received “on the condition of anonymity”; “the State Department did not respond to questions about those details.”
A source familiar with the situation told Pozirk that the article is mostly based on real facts, but refrained from further comment as the topic is “exceptionally sensitive.”
Earlier, Belarusian opposition leader Śviatłana Cichanoŭskaja thanked US President Donald Trump, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and the State Department for the “joint efforts” that made the release possible.
Talking to CNN, Smith described picking up Kuźniečyk and Maŭšuk in Belarus as a special operation.
Łukašenka’s spokeswoman commented on the American’s release by saying it was “not the only request of the new US administration.” “We prefer confidentiality in these matters,” she told Russia’s TASS. “All information about the details is in the US State Department and the White House.”
There have been no official reports on Smith’s or other US representatives’ meetings with Łukašenka or Tertel. The Belarusian strongman did not make any public appearances on February 12, the day of the visit. His press office reported that he promoted several colonels.
Belarus frees RFE/RL journalist, unnamed US citizen
February 12, Pozirk. Belarusian authorities have released former RFE/RL journalist Andrej Kuźniečyk, protester Alena Maŭšuk and “a US citizen whose name has not been disclosed so far,” opposition leader Śviatłana Cichanoŭskaja said on Telegram. “Representatives of the US Embassy are …