Moscow, Mar 19 (EFE).– The United States will lift sanctions imposed on the Belarusian Ministry of Finance and two banks, US envoy John Cole announced Thursday, following the release of 250 political prisoners by Minsk.
Cole stated in Minsk, following a meeting with Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, that the US is lifting sanctions on Belinvestbank, the Development Bank, and the Ministry of Finance.
The US special envoy, quoted by the state news agency BELTA, added that the measure will take effect without delay because Washington “has learned to do it faster” after some delay in lifting other restrictions in the past.
”Before coming here, we held broad consultations with the US State Department and other involved agencies. Work is moving in that direction. I cannot name any specific dates. But work is ongoing, and both sides agreed that this is very important,” he explained.
Cole added that a possible trip by the Belarusian president to the United States was also discussed during negotiations with Lukashenko.
Meanwhile, independent media in the country reported the release today of 250 political prisoners, including journalists, bloggers, and participants in the 2020 post-election protests.
This is the largest number of political prisoners released simultaneously by Lukashenko as part of the normalization process between Minsk and Washington.
In December, following another visit by Cole to Minsk, the United States partially lifted sanctions on potassium exports in exchange for the release of 123 political prisoners, including opposition leader Maria Kolesnikova and former presidential candidate Viktor Babariko. EFE
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