Belarusian opposition leader calls for Trump to ‘punish’ dictator Lukashenko

Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya is appealing to the U.S. president to continue putting pressure on the authoritarian leader of Belarus.

Belarus unexpectedly released the imprisoned husband of opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya last month, but she continues to call on U.S. President Donald Trump to keep up pressure on the country’s authoritarian leader, Alexander Lukashenko.

“Don’t normalize the situation where people are released for some concessions from your side, softening of sanctions or publicity,” she said in an interview with POLITICO. “Lukashenko has to be punished, not rewarded.”

Some international advocates worry that after the Belarusian president released her husband, Siarhei Tsikhanouski, following a visit to Minsk by U.S. special envoy Keith Kellogg, the Trump administration will loosen the screws on Lukashenko.
The release took place on the third Saturday in June; it was the first time Tsikhanouskaya had heard her husband’s voice in more than two years.

Tsikhanouski, a one-time presidential challenger and blogger jailed for the past five years by Lukashenko’s authoritarian regime, had been freed from prison in a deal brokered by Kellogg. He called Tsikhanouskaya from the border between Belarus and Lithuania.

“My dear wife, I’m free,” he said on the phone.

Tsikhanouski had been the leading opposition challenger to Lukashenko in the 2020 presidential election when he was arrested and sentenced to prison for 18 years for —according to the regime — inciting hatred and social unrest. Tsikhanouskaya subsequently ran in his place, reportedly drawing millions of votes. But she was forced into exile in Lithuania as Lukashenko violently quelled the mass protests that followed his disputed election victory.

Tsikhanouski was held incommunicado as of early 2023, unable to exchange messages with the outside world. Tsikhanouskaya’s team wasn’t even sure he was alive.

“I could hardly believe this,” Tsikhanouskaya said. “Because all these years, I was sure that he would be one of the last who would be released from prison. But who understands the logic of this regime?”

When they finally met at the American embassy in Vilnius, Tsikhanouskaya was shocked by her husband’s appearance. Siarhei had lost half his body weight. He told friends he’d forgotten how to speak in prison. Their daughter initially didn’t recognize him.

“When he started talking, she just recognized his voice only,” Tsikhanouskaya said. “Of course, there was an ocean of tears, hugs. But prison changes people a lot. It’s like gray face, very skinny people.”

Tsikhanouskaya still isn’t sure why the regime freed her husband. But Lukashenko has made a practice of releasing prisoners in exchange for international credibility. Relations with the former Biden administration were especially frosty; now, senior White House officials have traveled to Minsk to meet the Belarusian leader.
As the White House ramps up its presence in Belarus, she wants to ensure the Trump administration is prepared to reject Lukashenko’s efforts to establish legitimacy.

Tsikhanouskaya is appealing to Trump’s legacy: Belarus could be “President Trump’s foreign policy success story” if he and America’s allies ensure the country is not handed to Russia as a consolation prize in negotiations to end the war in Ukraine, she said.

“I trust that American partners … know who they’re dealing with,” Tsikhanouskaya said./Politico/