Trump Says US Efforts Led to Prisoner Releases from Belarus, Russia

(MENAFN) US President Donald Trump said that coordinated diplomatic efforts by his administration contributed to the release of several individuals held in Belarus and Russia, crediting a special envoy for facilitating the outcome.

In a post on Truth Social, Trump stated that three Polish nationals and two Moldovan citizens were freed from detention following US involvement. He attributed the breakthrough to work carried out by his special envoy John Coale, who he said played a central role in negotiations.

Trump also referenced a request from Polish President Karol Nawrocki during a previous meeting, in which assistance was sought for the release of journalist and activist Andrzej Poczobut.

According to Trump, “Today, Poczobut is free due to our efforts,” while also expressing appreciation to Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko for what he described as cooperation in the process.

Coale said in late April that he and his team had helped secure the release of “three Poles and two Moldovans” through coordination involving multiple countries, including Poland, Moldova, and Romania, alongside Belarusian authorities.

The releases were described as part of a broader prisoner exchange framework linked to US-supported diplomatic discussions between Belarus and Western states.

Poczobut, a journalist for *Gazeta Wyborcza* and a member of Belarus’s Polish minority community, had been serving an eight-year sentence after his 2021 arrest for reporting on pro-democracy demonstrations. His case had drawn international attention and criticism, and he was previously awarded the European Union’s Sakharov Prize for human rights.

Poland’s Foreign Ministry also indicated that the agreement included the release of additional detainees, among them a Polish citizen identified as Grzegorz Gawel, a member of a Catholic religious order.

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