Kellogg's deputy thanks Lithuania for cooperation in prisoners' release in Belarus

VILNIUS – Following the release of 14 political prisoners in Belarus, including opposition leader Syarhei Tsikhanouski, US special envoy Keith Kellogg's deputy has thanked Lithuania for its cooperation.

"President Trump's strong leadership led to the release of 14 prisoners from Belarus today. Thanks to the Lithuanian government for its cooperation and assistance – they remain a true friend and ally," John Coale posted on the X social media platform on Saturday.

Foreign Minister Kestutis Budrys said ealier on Saturday that the released prisoners were now in Lithuania and receiving care.

Lithuania's top diplomat emphasized the key role played by the United States in securing the prisoners' release and called for continued efforts to free more than a thousand other political detainees in Belarus, whom he described as "hostages."

Coale said that the mission to free the prisoners was "encouraged" by US President Donald Trump, Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau, and "many others in the administration."

"The United States is now strong, so we can get these kind of things done. I had started a relationship with Lukashenko and we brought back the last American held there about six weeks ago," Kellogg's deputy said in a video posted on X, which shows him speaking at the US Embassy in Vilnius.

"This time we went back and we got 14 people from different countries that are now free," he added.

The deputy also shared his impressions from meeting the freed prisoners.

"And the moment that I remember is when the van pulled up with the 14 to a back road we were meeting them on. I opened the door and they all had their heads down like this and they didn't know what was going on," he said.

"I opened the door and they all had their heads down like this and they didn't know what was going on. I said, you're free, you're free. And some of them spoke English, got the message, told the other and everything changed. Cause they had no idea where they were going. They could have been going to a terrible plane or whatever."

Tsikhanouski was released just hours after Belarusian authorities announced that the country's authoritarian president, Alexander Lukashenko, had met with Kellogg in Minsk.

Tsikhanouski, 46, had spent more than five years in prison.

He had planned to run against Lukashenko in the August 2020 presidential election, but was arrested and detained weeks before the vote. His wife, Sviatlana, then a political novice, ran in his place.

Tsikhanouski was sentenced in 2021 to 18 years in prison for "organizing riots" and "inciting hatred", then to another 18 months for "insubordination".

Belarus, ruled by Lukashenko since 1994, has outlawed all opposition movements and remains the only European country that retains the death penalty.

According to the Belarusian human rights group Viasna, the country still holds more than 1,000 political prisoners in its jails.