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  • Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya met with US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Eastern Europe Christopher Smith

    February 13, 2025

    “Today in Vilnius, I met with Christopher W. Smith. Yesterday, Mr. Smith was in Minsk on a ‘special mission’ to secure the release of our political prisoners, Alena Maushuk and Andrei Kuznechyk, as well as a US citizen.

    I expressed my gratitude to Mr. Smith for his efforts, cooperation, and coordination with my Office, and I conveyed my appreciation to President Trump and Secretary of State Rubio – because it was their political will that made this possible.

    I am pleased that we are building a relationship of trust with the new US administration, and yesterday, we saw practical results of this cooperation. Christopher Smith assured me that the regime made these releases unilaterally, with no concessions from the American side.

    We discussed the next steps for securing the release of other political prisoners. Our goal is clear – to ensure that everyone is freed and that repression is stopped. This is a necessary condition for a national dialogue to begin. And I see that the United States is willing and ready to support us in this effort.

    Mr. Smith and I also discussed other key issues: the continuation of the Strategic Dialogue and international cooperation, especially in the context of the ongoing negotiations regarding Ukraine. Belarus must not become a ‘consolation prize’ for Russia, and we must do everything possible to keep Belarus out of the war”.

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