Meeting with U.S. Special Envoy for Belarus John Coale

Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko met with representatives of U.S. President Donald Trump’s team, led by U.S. Special Envoy for Belarus John Coale, in Minsk on 15 September.

The talks included Prime Minister Aleksandr Turchin, Chairman of the State Security Committee (KGB) Ivan Tertel, and Belarus’ Permanent Representative to the UN Valentin Rybakov from the Belarusian side.

“Dear John, we live far apart, so we rarely see each other. But I am glad to welcome you to Belarus. We made no secret of the fact that you would be coming to visit us. And you didn’t hide anything either, we are aware of that. Our people knew you were coming. I must tell you that our public follows your visits with deep interest. Naturally, our neighbors and other world leaders are keeping a close eye on our meeting,” Aleksandr Lukashenko said.

“As you can see, our company has expanded a little. I invited the prime minister to join us so that he could report in detail on the practical outcomes of our past contacts and how the previous agreements are being implemented,” the Belarusian leader added.

We are open to discussing any matters. The only thing (it is not a demand but my request for you) is that we have to honor our agreements without fail. On our part and on the part of the USA,” Aleksandr Lukashenko said.

“Of course,” John Coale agreed.

The head of state also noted that the parties had already secured quite many agreements concerning economic relations. “This is why I’ve invited the prime minister, who will inform both you and us, everyone, who is present here, about the implementation of our agreements,” he added.

“John, and one more remark. There has been a great deal of talk before our meeting here about the release of, as you call them, political prisoners. Although I once again urge you not to be misled. There are no political prisoners in Belarus, because there is no such article in our legislation. But there is a lot of talk about this: about the release of people who (as a lawyer and attorney, you understand this perfectly well) are under investigation by law or are in correctional labor colonies,” the head of state said. “I am leading you to the main point. Our self-exiled opposition is pushing this narrative in the West, and from what I gather, they have convinced you that we release someone here but, while continuing repression, detain twice as many people in their place. I want to tell you publicly that this is an absolute lie.”

“We have no goal of sending new people to correctional labor colonies in place of those released. We do not have such a problem. We do not do this and will not do it. These are our Belarusians,” the Belarusian leader said.

Aleksandr Lukashenko also noted that certain individuals, regardless of their citizenship, can be detained and held accountable only if they have committed offences: “If any of the citizens of Belarus, and non-citizens present here, violate Belarusian laws, we will certainly respond in accordance with the law. And if they deserve to be under investigation or in correctional labor colonies, they will remain there.”

“But this is absolutely unrelated to politics. We have no need to politically persecute anyone today. There is absolutely no need. Because all processes in Belarus are under control,” the head of state added.

In turn, John Coale conveyed greetings from U.S. President Donald Trump and noted that the American leader fully supports everything being done.

According to John Coale, U.S. authorities have heard the recent statement by Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko on the need to return money “stuck” in the bank.

“I fully, absolutely support your demands. In fact, you are absolutely right. This money must be unfrozen and returned. We have approached the bank with a request to unfreeze these funds. We are now working out a mechanism for how to do this. As soon as we receive a concrete answer from the bank, we will inform you immediately,” John Coale said.

Aleksandr Lukashenko thanked John Coale for the fact that the USA is closely following his statements.