Special Envoy to Ukraine and Russia Keith Kellogg's visit to Belarus Saturday for talks with President Alexander Lukashenko secured the release of 14 political prisoners from jails in the country, according to Kellogg's deputy, John Coale.
Coale posted a video on X, in which he said that President Donald Trump's "strong leadership led to the release of 14 prisoners from Belarus today."
Speaking from the U.S. Embassy in Lithuania, he also thanked the Lithuanian government for its cooperation and assistance and said, "They remain a true friend and ally."
In the video, Coale said Trump and several others in the administration "encouraged this trip."
"The United States is strong so we can get these kinds of things done," he said.
He pointed out the release in April of Youras Ziankovich, an American citizen who had been detained in Moscow and held on allegations of plotting a coup.
"This time, we went back and got 14 people from different countries who are now free," he added. "The moment I remember is when the van pulled up ... I opened the door, and they all had their heads down, like this, and they didn't know what was going on. I said, 'You're free, you're free.'"
He added that both he and the freed prisoners want to thank Trump "for his leadership and encouragement for what we're doing around the world to make people free and improve lives."
The freed prisoners arrived in neighboring Lithuania by car Saturday afternoon, reported The New York Times.
They included dissident Sergei Tikhanovsky, husband of the exiled opposition leader Svetlana Tikhanovskaya.
Meanwhile, Kellogg's talks with Lukashenko in Minsk mark the first time a senior White House official and the Belarusian leader, a close ally to Russia, have spoken in more than five years.
Kellogg and Lukashenko met in the Belarusian leader's residence, the Independence Palace.
"With all the gold here, this looks a lot like Mar-a-Lago," Kellogg was overheard telling Lukashenko in a video released by the Belarusian state media.
Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Smith accompanied Kellogg to Minsk. Smith also traveled to Belarus in February, seeking an arrangement for the release of political prisoners in exchange for the United States easing sanctions.
Even after Saturday's prisoner release, several detainees remain behind bars in Belarus. According to Viasna, a human rights group keeping a count of the political prisoners being held, 1,186 prisoners from several countries remain in custody.
At the start of their talks, Kellogg told Lukashenko, "We live in a very dangerous time, when the crises we face can sharply escalate, grow, if we are not wise and fair."
Lukashenko responded, "You will be completely safe on the territory of Belarus."
He added, "There will be no escalation, not only in Belarus but also around us."
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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