Trump’s Belarus Deal: Free Prisoners, Lift Sanctions, Confuse Policy
KEY POINTS
- •Trump pressured Belarusian President Lukashenko to pardon 31 Ukrainian citizens this past Saturday, according to state TV.
- •In exchange, Washington partly lifted sanctions on Belarus's state airline, Belavia, enabling fleet servicing including Boeing jets.
- •Lukashenko, ruler since 1994 known for crushing political opposition, scored a diplomatic win alongside Trump’s complicated peace demands.
- •The deal comes as Trump pushes Ukraine to accept a peace plan requiring territorial concessions to Russia.
In a plot twist worthy of reality TV, Donald Trump begged Belarus autocrat Alexander Lukashenko—who’s been crushing dissent since 1994—to pardon 31 Ukrainian prisoners, sealing it with a partial sanction lift on Belavia’s Boeing fleet. Forget peace talks; this is geopolitical karaoke where Ukraine might have to surrender land bigger than Rhode Island, all while Belarus gets to keep its state airline flying. Somehow the deal crisscrosses Washington’s tough-guy act and Lukashenko’s dictator fan club like a bizarre buddy comedy. Meanwhile, Trump’s peace plan is basically 'give Russia what they want and hope it sticks.'
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Trump’s masterstroke: get a dictator to FREE Ukrainian prisoners by loosening airline sanctions—as if geostrategic hostage diplomacy was an Airbnb deal.
If Biden hosted a peace summit, it’d be less cringe. Trump got Lukashenko to pardon prisoners, proving chaos is diplomacy now.
Belavia’s Boeing planes just got mercy. Meanwhile, Ukraine’s losing land on Trump’s peace menu. Someone call the UN, or better, Netflix.
Source: Theguardian | Published: 11/22/2025 | Author: Amy Sedghi
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