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Prominent opposition figure Sergei Tikhanovsky among 14 released following talks with Lukashenko
MINSK — Belarus released 14 political prisoners on Saturday, including prominent opposition figure Sergei Tikhanovsky, following a meeting between President Alexander Lukashenko and U.S. Special Envoy for Ukraine, General (Ret.) Keith Kellogg, who serves in that role under President Donald J. Trump.
The high-level talks, which took place in Minsk, mark a rare engagement between the Belarusian leadership and a senior U.S. diplomatic representative. While no official link has been made between the meeting and the subsequent prisoner release, the timing has drawn significant international attention.
Among those freed was Sergei Tikhanovsky, a well-known critic of Lukashenko who was detained in 2020 just weeks before he intended to run in the presidential election. After his arrest, his wife, Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, stepped in as a candidate. The disputed election result sparked the largest wave of public protests in Belarus’s post-Soviet history and led to widespread crackdowns by the Lukashenko government.
Tikhanovskaya later fled to Lithuania, where she has lived in political exile. Following his release, Tikhanovsky has since joined her there.
The Belarusian government has not issued a formal statement explaining the release, but observers view the move as potentially signaling a shift in Minsk’s diplomatic approach amid growing geopolitical pressures, particularly in relation to the war in Ukraine and renewed global interest in Eastern European stability.
General Keith Kellogg, a retired U.S. Army lieutenant general and former National Security Advisor to Vice President Mike Pence, now plays a key role in President Trump’s foreign policy team. As Special Envoy for Ukraine, Kellogg has been active in regional diplomacy efforts, including outreach to governments in Eastern Europe.
Saturday’s meeting in Minsk was not previously announced and was conducted privately. Details of the conversation between Kellogg and Lukashenko have not been made public.
The release of political prisoners has long been a core demand of Western governments and international human rights organizations, which have accused the Belarusian authorities of systematic repression since the 2020 election. Human rights groups estimate that hundreds of political prisoners remain in detention.
It remains to be seen whether this development signals a broader policy shift by the Lukashenko administration or a one-off gesture amid evolving international dynamics.
President Alexander Lukashenko Picture by The Presidential Press and Information Office
