Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya hosted the new US Ambassador to Lithuania, Kara McDonald, at her Office in Vilnius.
During the conversation, the Belarusian leader emphasized the critical situation with political prisoners and the possible steps to achieve their release. The parties also discussed steps to advance the Belarus–USA Strategic Dialogue and possible cooperation within the UN and humanitarian organizations.
Ms. Tsikhanouskaya called for facilitating the regime’s accountability internationally and stressed the need to explore new ways of pressure on Lukashenka and his accomplices. She also noted that Belarusians expect international non-recognition of the upcoming illegitimate election scheduled by the regime for late February.
At the end of the meeting, Ms. Tsikhanouskaya thanked Ms. McDonald for the US support for democratic Belarus and firm policy towards the regime: “We are grateful to the United States and the US Embassy in Vilnius for their support. I have known Ambassador McDonald for quite some time. We met when Kara McDonald worked at the State Department. She is well aware of the situation in Belarus and is concerned about the political prisoners. I am confident that with Kara McDonald, we will have a strong ally and partner”.
