Belarusian President Lukashenko meets Trump envoy in Minsk

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko on Tuesday met with a delegation from US President Donald Trump’s team in Minsk led by US special envoy for Belarus John Coale.

Welcoming Coale, Lukashenko said Belarusian society is following his visits with “great interest,” while neighboring countries and other state leaders are also closely watching the meeting.

“Our company has expanded somewhat,” Lukashenko said, adding that he had asked Prime Minister Alexander Turchin to join the talks to report in detail on the implementation of agreements reached during previous contacts with the US side.

Coale conveyed greetings from Trump and said the US president “fully supports everything we are doing.”

Belarusian officials taking part in the talks also include Turchin as well as Ivan Tertel, the head of Belarus’ intelligence agency the KGB, and Belarus’ UN Ambassador Valentin Rybakov.

The meeting is Coale’s first visit with Lukashenko in six months. Washington has been seeking further releases of what it calls “political prisoners” in Belarus as part of its engagement with Minsk, with previous rounds of talks leading to the release of hundreds of detainees and the easing of some US sanctions.