{"id":161371,"date":"2025-10-24T12:41:27","date_gmt":"2025-10-24T09:41:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/161371\/"},"modified":"2026-03-09T20:10:49","modified_gmt":"2026-03-09T20:10:49","slug":"opposition-politician-lukasenkas-claims-of-grand-bargain-with-us-may-stall-prisoner-releases","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/161371\/","title":{"rendered":"Opposition politician: \u0141uka\u0161enka\u2019s claims of \u201cgrand bargain\u201d with US may stall prisoner releases"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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October 24, Pozirk.<\/em> <\/strong>Alaksandar \u0141uka\u0161enka’s new idea of a \u201cgrand bargain\u201d with Washington may harm negotiations on the release of jailed Belarusian dissidents, Franak Via\u010dorka, an aide to Belarusian opposition leader \u015aviat\u0142ana Cichano\u016dskaja, told the Obychnoe Utro<\/em> YouTube show yesterday.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The idea, announced by the Belarusian ruler at a meeting with top security officials ten days ago, may alter the format of talks, but the process is ongoing, he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOur goal remains unchanged \u2013 to free as many people as possible and put an end to reprisals,\u201d the politician said. “The Americans are doing this primarily for our sake, because Belarusian society needs its political prisoners, not the US or Europe. But the Americans also know that they will score political points and demonstrate American leadership if they liberate people from prison.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of Washington\u2019s conditions is that people released through negotiations with US officials, as well as their families, must not face renewed persecution, Via\u010dorka said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis was [our] request to the Americans,” he stressed. “We know that the US side regularly raises this issue \u2013 that those released must have the right to stay [in Belarus], that the families are not persecuted and that charges are dropped. . . The Americans know about all the horrors committed by [Alaksandar] \u0141uka\u0161enka’s regime. They\u2019re negotiating with a very difficult counterpart that treats political prisoners as a kind of commodity, while the US sees this as a humanitarian mission.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Last week, Marcin Bosacki of the Polish foreign ministry said that John Coale, US deputy special envoy for Ukraine, reached an agreement with Minsk on the next round of Belarusian prisoner releases. The deal has not yet materialized.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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