US Envoy Secures Release of 25 More Prisoners in Belarus

Belarus freed 25 prisoners on Sept. 16 in exchange for the United States lifting some sanctions, with there being the possibility of more prisoner releases in the future, U.S. envoy John Coale said.

Coale told Reuters that the process had been successful and that President Donald Trump was “very happy with ⁠this.”

Speaking from the Lithuanian capital of Vilnius, where the former detainees were taken, Coale said that he expects to return to Minsk in a month to secure the freedom of “hundreds” of others including journalists, lawyers, political activists, and human rights campaigners who are currently incarcerated in Belarus.

This latest deal follows a series of negotiations stretching back more than a year between Coale and Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Coale wrote in a Sept. 16 post on X that “Trump’s commitment to direct diplomacy delivers results.”

He thanked Lukashenko for taking this step, as well as those in Lithuania who supported the process.

“We will continue to improve US-Belarus relations and are working to secure the release of more people in the very near future,” the U.S. envoy said. “We are not finished!”

Those freed include Liudmila Chekina, who was the head of the online news portal TUT.BY, which was banned in 2021. Chekina told reporters that she was “overwhelmed with emotions” after ​being released from her 12-year sentence.

Others freed include journalist Andrei Alyaksandrau, who had been sentenced to 14 years in prison, and his wife, Iryna Zlobina, who was serving ‌nine years.

In exchange for the releases, Coale promised Lukashenko on Tuesday to get U.S. banks to return tens of millions of dollars in frozen Belarusian assets.

The U.S. envoy had also said earlier that the United States was lifting sanctions on paints and industrial coatings manufacturer Lakokraska, as well as the state-owned Bellesbumprom, which oversees the country’s forestry and pulp and paper industries.

Previous Prisoner Releases

Coale’s last round of negotiations in March had resulted in the release of 250 prisoners. They were set free in exchange for sanctions relief on the financial sector, including ‌the country’s state-owned Belinvestbank. All remaining sanctions on potash companies Agrorozkvit, Belarusian ​Potash ⁠Company, and Belaruskali were also lifted.

Trump appointed Coale as his special envoy to Minsk in November, after he had helped negotiate the release of prisoners from Belarus, charging him with working on the release of more.

Coale “has already successfully negotiated the release of 100 hostages, and is going for an additional 50,” Trump said in a Truth Social post back in November 2025.

“I would like to thank, in advance, the Highly Respected President of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko, for his consideration on the release of these additional people.”

Trump had previously urged the Belarusian leader to release 1,400 prisoners whom the U.S. president has described as hostages.

Reuters contributed to this report.