decided to change his shoes: the NYT found out why Lukashenko pardoned 200 prisoners

Recent pardons of political prisoners in Belarus indicate that the Belarusian dictator Alexander Lukashenko is trying to reset his relations with the West in order to achieve the easing of sanctions. This is reported by The New York Times with reference to analysts, reports UNN.

Details

The publication reminds that in recent months, Lukashenko pardoned more than 200 people imprisoned for participating in anti-government protests in 2020. However, the most prominent protest leaders are still in prison, including Maria Kolesnikova, who became a symbol of resistance to the Lukashenko regime after she tore up her passport to avoid deportation from Belarus.

According to analysts, Lukashenko will not let Kolesnikova go without significant concessions. And such concessions should probably be the lifting of sanctions.

According to Kolesnikova’s sister Tetyana Khomych, who lives in exile in France, the recent dismissals are a “thoughtful move by the regime” to improve its image and “get concessions”. She called on the West to take advantage of “this rare opportunity,” saying “the moral imperative to save lives justifies flexible approaches, including the possibility of conditional, limited or temporary easing of sanctions.”

While Lukashenko is unlikely to sever ties with Russian ruler Vladimir Putin, analysts are watching the prisoner releases closely to see if he really wants to rekindle his relationship with the West

Belarusian oppositionist Valery Kavalevsky, who lives in Washington, says that repression in Belarus has become part of the system of governance. And the last “round of pardons is a departure from the norm,” he believes. According to him, Lukashenka’s government “is now sending very clear signals to the West.”

However, getting the West to ease sanctions against Belarus is likely to be difficult for Lukashenka, analysts say, given his repression and support for the war in Ukraine. In particular, there is little chance that the sanctions on potassium – the main ingredient of fertilizers and the main source of foreign currency for Belarus – will be lifted.

It is noted that Western officials have expressed their readiness to possibly soften the measures against the Belavia airline, the national carrier. The Baltic countries, in particular Lithuania, oppose any easing of sanctions.

We will remind

The self-proclaimed president of Belarus announced the importation of several dozen nuclear warheads into the country. He emphasized that this is a tactical nuclear weapon, which is 5 times more powerful than the Oreshnik complex.