Sviatlana Tsihanouskaya had a call with U.S. Special Envoy to Belarus John Coale
Tsikhanouskaya during her visit to the U.S.
Democratic leader of Belarus Sviatlana Tsihanouskaya had a "productive" call with the newly appointed U.S. Special Envoy to Belarus, John Coale, and Deputy Assistant Secretary for Eastern Europe (EE) Chris Smith.
"I congratulated Mr. Coale on his appointment and expressed my sincere gratitude to President Trump for his leadership in advancing peace in our region and for his continued attention to Belarus — especially his efforts to secure the release of 1300 Belarusian political prisoners", Tsihanouskaya wrote at her X (formely Twitter) account,
Coale and Smith are engaged in negotiations with the Belarusian regime on the release of political prisoners — and their efforts are already showing results: this year, dozens of Belarusian political prisoners were released.
U.S. President Donald Trump has repeatedly demanded the release of the 1,300 Belarusian hostages held in prisons. The regime of Aliaksandr Lukashenka has stated that it is ready for dialogue with Washington, but in return it wants the easing or lifting of a number of sanctions that were imposed for human rights violations, the forced landing of a Ryanair plane in 2021, and its involvement in Russia’s attack on Ukraine in 2022.
Sviatlana @Tsihanouskaya spoke with the newly appointed U.S. Special Envoy to #Belarus, @johnpcoale, and DAS Chris Smith.
— Euroradio. About Belarus in English (@Euroradio_EN) November 13, 2025
Coale and Smith are engaged in negotiations with the Belarusian regime on the release of political prisoners — and their efforts are already showing results. https://t.co/OHZXcMYXZD
