The Latest Breaking News from Alexander Lukashenko

IN DEPTH: Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko has vowed to stop the balloons from flying into Lithuania after pressure from the US. But experts tell Isabella Redmayne that they form a vital part of a wider campaign to destabilise the Baltic country

Belarusian authorities have freed 123 prisoners, including Nobel Peace Prize laureate Ales Bialiatski and key opposition figures Maria Kolesnikova and Viktar Babaryka, as part of a deal with Washington that lifted U.S. sanctions on the Eastern European country’s vital fertilizer exports

The US presidential envoy announced the lifting of sanctions on Belarusian potash fertilisers. In return, Aliaksandr Lukashenka released a large group of political prisoners, including Nobel Peace Prize laureate Ales Bialiatski and one of the opposition leaders Maria Kolesnikova

Nobel prize winner Ales Bialiatski and opposition figure Maria Kalesnikava among those freed after US talks with Alexander Lukashenko