Trump administration explains reasons for thaw in ties with Belarus

Keith Kellogg, US President Donald Trump's Special Envoy for Ukraine, has said that the rapprochement with Belarus, ruled by self-proclaimed Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko, is linked to Washington's attempts to "ensure lines of communication" with Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin.

As reported by The Guardian, Kellogg explained that Washington's attention to Lukashenko comes from the fact that "we know he talks to President Putin a lot." [N.B. European Pravda doesn't recognise Putin as president – ed.]

"But what we did, we established a relationship to ensure the lines of communication were open so we could make sure all of our messaging was being passed to President Putin. That was the reason we did it; we weren't going in there initially to get political prisoners out."

Kellogg said this was also the reason for the US to lift sanctions on Belarusian state-owned airline Belavia.

"That was why we did it; initially, it was not about freeing political prisoners," Kellogg said.

The envoy noted that securing the release of some political prisoners was a positive outcome, but "the overall objective of that was not to free political prisoners – the overall objective was [to] find a resolution to the best way we can to the war between Ukraine and Russia."

Trump's special envoy also stressed that the US is not "naive" about Lukashenko's regime.

"We know if he releases one [prisoner], he probably picks up two more," he added.

He added that the agreement with Belarus included allowing Belavia to repair its aircraft, as "the preferred option is that their aeroplanes don't fall out of the skies", but to make it clear, they must not use them for "nefarious purposes" such as transporting migrants to Europe.

In recent weeks, the Donald Trump administration has sought to build contact with the regime in Minsk, signalled by the release of Belarusian political prisoners. As part of these efforts, the US has lifted sanctions on Belavia.

Belarusian opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya said that Lukashenko is trying to deceive US president Donald Trump by using gestures such as prisoner releases.