After years of the U.S. trying to isolate Russia’s closest ally, a meeting with Belarus’s president points to better relations, raising hopes of loosening his repression and his embrace of Moscow.

The below-the-radar American visit to Minsk, the Belarusian capital, on Wednesday came just a day after President Trump had a long telephone call with President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia. Both events signaled Washington’s departure from a yearslong policy of trying to isolate leaders out of favor in the West because of their repressive policies and the war in Ukraine.

After talks with Mr. Lukashenko, Christopher W. Smith, a deputy assistant secretary of state, and two other American officials drove to a village near the border with Lithuania. There, courtesy of the Belarusian KGB, three people who had been jailed — an American and two Belarusian political prisoners — were waiting to be picked up.

. . .

The next step, Mr. Smith told a gathering of Western diplomats on Thursday in Vilnius, according to people who attended, is a possible grand bargain under which Mr. Lukashenko would release a slew of political prisoners, including prominent ones. In return, the United States would relax sanctions on Belarusian banks and exports of potash, a key ingredient in fertilizer, of which Belarus is a major producer.

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  • Em AdespotonEnglish
    41·
    7 days ago

    This article seems to be implying that all is normal in the world with a few minor changes in policy observed lately.

    It’s not Washington’s departure from a years long policy of isolation; it’s the US government’s leadership’s departure from policy, period.

    I expect plenty more visits to strong man states in the near future.

    • Flying Squid@lemmy.worldEnglish
      5·
      6 days ago

      This article seems to be implying that all is normal in the world with a few minor changes in policy observed lately.

      I see you’re familiar with the New York Times.