The United States has thanked Lithuania for its role in securing the release of 14 political prisoners from Belarus, including prominent opposition leader Syarhei Tsikhanouski.
“President Trump’s strong leadership led to the release of 14 prisoners from Belarus today. Thanks to the Lithuanian government for its cooperation and assistance – they remain a true friend and ally,” John Coale, deputy to US special envoy Keith Kellogg, posted Saturday on the social media platform X.
President Trump’s strong leadership led to the release of 14 prisoners from Belarus today. Thanks to the Lithuanian government for its cooperation and assistance - they remain a true friend and ally. pic.twitter.com/W9xUj29l4Z
— john coale (@johnpcoale) June 21, 2025
Lithuanian Foreign Minister Kęstutis Budrys confirmed Saturday that the released prisoners had arrived in Lithuania and were receiving care.
Budrys emphasised the key role played by the United States in the operation and called for continued international efforts to free the more than 1,000 political prisoners still held in Belarus. He referred to those detainees as “hostages”.
Coale said the mission was supported by President Donald Trump, Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau, and “many others in the administration”.
“The United States is now strong, so we can get these kind of things done,” Coale said in a video posted on X. He appeared in the video speaking from the US Embassy in Vilnius.
“I had started a relationship with [Belarusian President Alexander] Lukashenko, and we brought back the last American held there about six weeks ago,” he added. “This time we went back and we got 14 people from different countries that are now free.”
Coale also described the moment he met the released prisoners.
“When the van pulled up with the 14 to a back road we were meeting them on, I opened the door and they all had their heads down like this and they didn’t know what was going on,” he said. “I said, ‘You’re free, you’re free.’ Some of them spoke English, got the message, told the others – and everything changed. Because they had no idea where they were going. They could have been going to a terrible plane or whatever.”
Tsikhanouski, 46, was released just hours after Belarusian authorities announced that Lukashenko had met with Kellogg in Minsk. The opposition blogger and political activist had spent more than five years behind bars.
He was arrested in 2020 after announcing his intention to challenge Lukashenko in that year’s presidential election. His wife, Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, ran in his place and became the leading opposition figure in exile after Lukashenko claimed victory in a vote widely dismissed as fraudulent.
In 2021, Tsikhanouski was sentenced to 18 years in prison for “organising riots” and “inciting hatred”, and later received an additional 18-month sentence for “insubordination”.
Belarus, ruled by Lukashenko since 1994, has outlawed all opposition movements and remains the only European country that retains the death penalty.
According to the Belarusian human rights group Viasna, more than 1,000 political prisoners remain in custody in the country.
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