The United States will lift sanctions on Belarusian potash fertilizer and promote the normalization of relations between the two countries.

According to reports from Xinhua News Agency and other media, on Saturday local time, Belarusian President Lukashenko has pardoned 123 prisoners from different countries based on an agreement reached with the Trump administration. In exchange, the United States will lift sanctions on Belarus in the potash industry. It is reported that Lukashenko had a two-day closed-door meeting with John Cole, the U.S. Special Envoy for Belarus issues, prior to this agreement. Cole stated on Saturday that the two sides discussed how to normalize relations between the two countries, and had very productive discussions during the meeting. Cole also mentioned that they discussed advancing U.S.-Belarus relations and reconciliation, ultimately aiming to normalize relations. According to Cole, following President Trump's instructions, the U.S. will lift sanctions on Belarusian potash. As future relations between the two countries normalize, more sanctions are expected to be lifted, with hopes of completely removing sanctions on Belarus in the future. The negotiations between the U.S. and Belarus also involved issues related to Venezuela and the Russia-Ukraine situation. Cole stated that Lukashenko provided "good suggestions" on the war and pointed out that Lukashenko has a "long-term friendly" relationship with Putin, possessing the level of trust necessary to discuss relevant issues. Later in the day, the Belarusian Presidential Palace confirmed the news of the mass pardon. According to the Belarusian Presidential Palace news bureau, this release of prisoners was related to an agreement reached between Trump and Lukashenko, focusing on "lifting the illegal sanctions imposed by the Biden administration on the Belarusian potash industry." The Belarusian Presidential Palace news bureau added, "The head of state has decided to pardon 123 foreign citizens who were sentenced in Belarus for various crimes such as espionage, terrorism, and extremism." While most of those granted pardons were Belarusian citizens, they also included citizens of the United States, the United Kingdom, Lithuania, Ukraine, Latvia, Australia, and Japan. According to reports, several opposition figures who were imprisoned during the 2020 presidential election and subsequent mass protests were also on the list of those pardoned. An American official called this release a "significant milestone in U.S.-Belarus relations" and another foreign policy victory for Trump. In recent months, Lukashenko has frequently released prisoners on a large scale during the process of easing negotiations with the United States, and the U.S. government has also relaxed some sanctions on Belarus in response, including lifting restrictions on Belarusian national airline Belavia. Belarus previously accounted for about 20% of global potassium fertilizer exports, but after Western sanctions targeted the state-owned potassium fertilizer producer Belaruskali and cut off its transportation through the main export channel via the Lithuanian port of Klaipeda, they were forced to significantly reduce potassium fertilizer exports. Nastasiya Luzgina, an analyst at the Belarusian Economic Research Center, said, "The sanctions imposed by the U.S. and Europe and their allies have severely weakened the Belarusian potash industry, causing it to lose key sources of foreign exchange income and major markets." She believes that Belarus is looking forward to using the current situation to pave the way for the EU to relax more powerful sanctions in the future. This article is from Cai Lian Society, authored by Niu Zhanlin, GMTEight edited by Li Cheng.