Belarus, a close ally of Russia, has pardoned 31 Ukrainian citizens, state television reported Saturday, as part of an agreement between Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko and US President Donald Trump.
Trump has urged Lukashenko to release political prisoners in past contacts. Lukashenko, who has ruled Belarus since 1994, has cracked down on free media and political opposition.
In return, the US partially lifted sanctions on Belarus’s state airline, Belavia, allowing it to service and buy parts for its Boeing aircraft.
“The president has pardoned 31 Ukrainian citizens who committed criminal offenses on the territory of our country,” Lukashenko’s spokeswoman Natalia Eismont told state TV.
She said the pardon, requested by Ukraine, was part of “agreements reached between US President Donald Trump and President of the Republic of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko” and aimed at “creating conditions for the settlement of the armed conflict in the neighboring state,” referring to the war in Ukraine.
The Ukrainians, whose identities were not disclosed, are being handed over to Kyiv “right now,” Eismont said.
Belarus often charges government critics and opponents with “extremism,” carrying long prison sentences. It was not immediately clear what the freed Ukrainians had been charged with.
Lukashenko has previously released dozens of political prisoners, including journalists, clerics, and dissidents. Rights groups say more than 1,000 political prisoners remain in Belarusian jails.