Belarus opposition leader freed from jail in US-brokered deal

Belarus opposition leader Siarhei Tsikhanouski and 13 other prisoners have been released from jail and are now free in Lithuania, the neighbouring country's government said on Saturday.

The release was brokered by U.S. special envoy Keith Kellogg, a spokesperson for Lithuania's prime minister said.

Kellogg earlier met with Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, the country's state news agency Belta said.

Tsikhanouski's wife Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya in a post on social media platform X thanked U.S. President Donald Trump, as well as Kellogg and others for their efforts to secure her husband's release.

"We're not done," Tsikhanouskaya wrote on her X account, calling for the release of a further 1,150 prisoners.

Lukashenko issued pardons for all those released in response to a U.S. request, the president's spokeswoman, Natalya Eismont, said in a statement.

Eismont's statement on the Pul Pervogo Telegram channel close to the president, said the Belarusian nationals among the 14 released detainees had been "convicted of extremist and terrorist activity".

She said the decision to release Tsikhanouski was "taken by the president strictly on humanitarian considerations with the aim of family reunification".

Tsikhanouski was seen emerging from a van with a shaven head, smiling and immediately stepping up to hug his wife in a long embrace, a video released by her office showed.

Reuters reported on Tuesday that Kellogg, the highest-ranking U.S. official to visit Belarus in years, saw his mission as one that could help jump-start peace talks aimed at ending Russia's war against Ukraine.

"President Trump encouraged this trip," Kellogg’s deputy John Coale said in a video posted on his account on X.

Presidential spokeswoman Eismont, quoted by the Belta agency, said Kellogg's talks with Lukashenko had begun on Friday evening and lasted 6-1/2 hours over dinner.