Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya: The American Track for the Release of Political Prisoners Continues, Trump Set the Task to Return 1,300 People

The American track for the release of political prisoners in Belarus continues, Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya stated on July 18 at a meeting within the framework of the TUTAKA festival.

"This is such a delicate situation that it's impossible to just talk about it. I am very sorry that people are speculating precisely on the topic of political prisoners," she said. "I want to say one thing, that we have constant communication with the American side. We understand what processes are taking place, information is shared with us, there is coordination. And I hope... let me put it this way, that, of course, we will be able to see released people."

"I want to tell you that interest in the topic has not been lost. A task was set [by US President Donald Trump, from him] and the number — 1300 — was voiced. We must understand that there were more than 1300 political prisoners. We understand that even if this number is reached, people will continue to be thrown behind bars. There are many people who are not on the lists of human rights organizations — for various reasons, but we must understand that these people exist," the politician emphasized.

According to her, the messages that people write to US representatives — in particular, to the President's Special Envoy for Belarus, John Koele — regarding certain political prisoners, "reach their destination, they are read."

Tsikhanouskaya said that "the process, perhaps, is difficult, but the process is ongoing." "With difficulties, not as quickly as all of us would like, but people are working," the democratic leader stated.

Following the last meeting with the American delegation on March 19, 2026, in Minsk, Aliaksandr Lukashenka ordered the release of 250 prisoners, of whom 235 were allowed to remain in their homeland, and 15 were transported to Lithuania (some later went to Poland).

In total, with the participation of the White House, more than 400 people were released. In return, the US is gradually lifting sanctions from Lukashenka's regime.

It was expected that Koele would visit Minsk in May, but this did not happen. In June, Trump's special envoy denied information that the process of releasing Belarusian political prisoners under the auspices of Washington had been suspended. He later made it clear that he might arrive in Belarus once again soon.

After a phone conversation with Lukashenka on August 15, 2025, Trump wrote on his social network TruthSocial that the purpose of the call was to express gratitude for the release of a group of prisoners. "We are also discussing the release of another 1300 prisoners," he noted then.

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