By Alan Charlish
WARSAW, April 28 (Reuters) - U.S. special envoy John Coale said on Tuesday he expects to secure the release of additional prisoners from Belarus within the next month, adding that further sanctions relief for Minsk could be possible if that happens.
Coale spoke following the release of Andrzej Poczobut, a Polish-Belarusian journalist and activist, as part of a prisoner exchange at the border with Poland. The news was greeted with elation in Warsaw, where securing Poczobut’s release had
long been a priority.
"I expect that we can get some prisoners released in the next month," Coale told Reuters by telephone. "And I'll be going back to facilitate that in the next month. Nothing definite, but probably the next month."
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has released hundreds of detainees over the past two years, a process that has accelerated since Donald Trump returned to the White House and dispatched Coale to negotiate directly with him. In return, the United States has begun lifting sanctions on Belarus.
Coale said sanctions were not part of the talks that led to the release of Poczobut and four others on Tuesday, but signalled that additional releases could trigger further easing of restrictions.
"We're still in talks," he said. "It's always possible."
Human rights groups say more than 830 political prisoners remain in Belarusian jails.
COALE SAYS HE HAS BUILT TRUST WITH LUKASHENKO
Lukashenko, a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, has backed Russia's invasion of Ukraine, though without deploying Belarusian troops to fight there.
The United States has indicated it sees value in engaging Lukashenko because of his close ties to Putin, and says he has offered constructive advice on ending the four-year conflict.
"So far we trust each other and... if one feels that the other swayed off course, we work it out," Coale said.
He added that Lukashenko wants Belarus to be a "member of the family of nations in Europe" and that releasing political prisoners could help him move in that direction.
Coale has previously said that Lukashenko may soon visit the United States — a potential breakthrough for the veteran authoritarian leader after years as a diplomatic pariah over human rights abuses and his support for Putin's war.
"We're talking about that. I think that would be a good move. I also mentioned opening the U.S. Embassy in Minsk," Coale said.
"All those things are on the table ... and I'm optimistic that they can happen."
(Reporting by Alan Charlish, Justyna Pawlak, Anna Wlodarczak-Semczuk; Editing by Kevin Liffey and Ros Russell)
