The US lifts air sanctions on Belarus (including Lukashenko). Minsk releases 52 prisoners.

The US Treasury on Tuesday officially removed Belarusian airline Belavia and the plane used by Alexander Lukashenko's family from the sanctions list. This is in implementation of the previously announced agreement with Minsk on the release of some political prisoners by Belarus.

According to a statement published on the website of the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), Belavia and three related companies, as well as a Bombardier CRJ-200ER aircraft, number EW-301PJ, believed to belong to the Belarusian leader's family, have been removed from the sanctions list. Additionally, OFAC issued a license authorizing transactions involving the use of three other aircraft by Lukashenko himself and the government-linked company Slavkalij.

The lifting of sanctions on Belarusian airlines was supposedly part of the US-Lukashenko agreement announced in September. As a result of these agreements, the Minsk regime released 52 political prisoners, including three Poles.

Sanctions against the Belarusian carrier were imposed in mid-2022, following Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Belarusian opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya criticized the lifting of the restrictions, arguing that the move could be beneficial for Russia, allowing it to purchase spare parts through the Belarusian carrier.

Donald Trump's envoy, John Coale, who struck a deal with Lukashenko in September, announced that Washington aims to release all political prisoners and normalize relations with Minsk within "months, not years." He also estimated that Europe could lift sanctions on Belarus.

From Washington, Oskar Górzyński (PAP)

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