Belarus has freed 123 prisoners, including prominent opposition activist Maria Kolesnikova, after the US agreed to lift sanctions on the Eastern European country. Nobel Peace Prize winner Ales Bialiatski is also among those who have been freed following talks in Minsk with US President Donald Trump’s special envoy for Belarus, John Coale. The US has…
Belarusian authorities have released Nobel Peace Prize laureate Ales Bialiatski and key opposition figure Maria Kolesnikova from prison, Pavel Sapelka, human rights advocate with the Viasna rights group, confirmed to the AP. Their release comes as authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko seeks to improve relations with Washington. The U.S. earlier on Saturday announced lifting sanctions on…
Moscow and Minsk insist, however, that the drills are defensive, adding that Western security concerns are ‘nonsense’. Russia has showcased some of its advanced weapons while conducting a joint military drill with Belarusian troops amid heightened tensions with NATO countries following alleged violations of the airspaces of Poland and Romania by Moscow. Approximately 7,000 troops,…
Putin ally Lukashenko has ruled Belarus with an iron fist for more than than three decades and is now on seventh term. Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko has signalled he does not intend to seek another term in office, while rejecting speculation that he is lining up his son as successor. The self-professed “last and only…
