Besides lifting sanctions, the USA handed Lukashenka the latest American weight-loss drugs
Speaking at the All-Belarusian People's Assembly (ABPA), Alexander Lukashenka stated that all illnesses stem from excess weight and that during COVID, only obese individuals ended up in intensive care. The informed American publication The Wall Street Journal reported how Lukashenka noticed John Cole had lost weight and asked how he managed it. Cole, in response, promised to give him Zepbound injections. «Having dealings with one of the world's most repressive regimes, Trump's envoy grew close to the Belarusian dictator through Zepbound and achieved the release of hundreds of prisoners,» the publication writes. It calls what happened in Belarus «the largest release of prisoners» by a totalitarian regime since the Cold War. «Prisoners are the only resource Lukashenka has in abundance,» the publication notes.
John Cole and Alexander Lukashenka, September 11, 2025. Photo by Belarusian Presidential Press Service via AP
At a dinner with Trump's envoy, Alexander Lukashenka unexpectedly turned to him with a personal question: «Have you lost weight?»
«Yes,» replied John Cole, an experienced lawyer who represented Donald Trump's interests in lawsuits against Meta and other social networks. Cole recounted how he lost weight using Zepbound — injections effective in combating obesity.
It was a moment of trust, though the diplomatic initiative itself was rather strange, the publication writes. Lukashenka wanted Washington to ease a number of sanctions against some of his country's most profitable companies — and so he could repair his presidential «Boeing.»
«In return, the dictator was ready to trade the only resource he had in abundance: political prisoners. If Cole succeeded, it could serve as a test run for the Trump administration's main goal — bringing Putin and Russia's $2 trillion economy out of isolation.
And, perhaps, American officials thought, there's a way to help the hefty 71-year-old head of state, interested in losing weight. They decided to explore the possibility of arranging Zepbound supplies for Lukashenka's personal use,» The Wall Street Journal writes.
After five years of Lukashenka's isolation, Cole now regularly spoke with Rybakov, Belarus's Ambassador to the UN. They discussed the lifting of sanctions and how aircraft spare parts supplies would be organized. American officials worked on legal formulations to reduce the risk that Boeing components would be secretly redirected from Belarus to Russia.
In turn, Lukashenka shared his understanding of Putin with the Americans and facilitated the US-Russia summit in Alaska last summer.
Lukashenka also spoke with the Americans about Nicolas Maduro, the Venezuelan dictator who is currently blockaded by the US Navy. He also spoke about his other ally Xi Jinping, who dined with Cole when the latter was studying in Beijing.
«These contacts provoked a contradictory reaction among European allies and Belarusian dissidents: they are glad to see prisoners leaving jails, but they don't know how to feel about the world's biggest hostage-taker being given attention and economic concessions.
«It's quite mixed feelings. I feel joy, joy for the Belarusian people,» Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya told the publication. The Wall Street Journal calls her «the internationally recognized winner of the 2020 elections, whose husband was among those released this year.»
«But, of course, for Lukashenka, releasing people comes at a price, and he is ready to sell people as long as possible. It might look like a revolving door, spinning and spinning,» the publication quotes her as saying. This implies: Lukashenka releases some, while imprisoning others at the same time.
«Lukashenka imprisoned more than 30,000 protesters after falsely claiming victory in 2020. Dissidents were tortured and held in complete isolation, and rape and sexual violence were used to suppress dissent, according to a UN Human Rights Council report. A year later, his air traffic controllers forced a Ryanair plane flying over Belarus to land in Minsk — claiming there was a bomb on board — which allowed police to seize a Belarusian opposition journalist who was on board.
Later, border guards drove thousands of migrants into neighboring Poland and Lithuania, diverting European politicians' attention from Putin's massive military buildup, including tens of thousands on Belarus's border with Ukraine. Last week, Lukashenka announced that Russia's new «Oreshnik» nuclear missile has been deployed on Belarusian territory and is now «on combat duty.» He calls North Korea a model for Belarus, praises its nuclear potential, and repeats its belligerent rhetoric,» the publication writes.
The article provides several other interesting facts.
Lukashenka himself prepared the ground for the country's rapprochement with America. Immediately after Trump's second inauguration, Belarus's Ministry of Foreign Affairs contacted the State Department through a channel typically used to prevent military conflicts, to announce that Belarus hoped for a «thaw» in bilateral relations. Washington, in response, suggested that Belarus make the first move.
Another moment — from the negotiations in Minsk. Over vodka, Cole compared international relations to a school cafeteria and told Lukashenka that he was sitting at the «losers' table» of world politics alongside Venezuela, Iran, and North Korea, but could move to the «cool guys' table» with US help. «The dictator proposed many toasts with his own brand of vodka, «President»,» the article writes. But Cole poured out the contents of the shots while Lukashenka looked away.
The publication notes that Alexander Lukashenka also used an additional lure during the negotiations: he suggested that Belarus buy more Boeing planes.
However, at the ABPA last week, Lukashenka said that Belarus still does not need Boeing planes: «We agreed with Putin that we would buy Russian planes.»
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