US President Donald Trump announced that five detainees, including three Polish citizens and two Moldovans, were released from prisons in Belarus and Russia following diplomatic efforts led by Washington.
In a statement shared on his Truth Social platform, Trump credited his special envoy John Coale for playing a central role in the negotiations that secured the prisoners’ freedom.
Trump revealed that Polish President Karol Nawrocki had personally requested US assistance last year to obtain the release of Polish Belarusian journalist and activist Andrzej Poczobut. According to Trump, Poczobut has now been freed as a result of the negotiations.
The US president also expressed gratitude to Belarusian leader Aleksandr Lukashenko for cooperating with the diplomatic initiative.
Last month, Coale confirmed that intensive coordination involving Poland, Moldova, Romania and Belarus contributed to the release deal. He thanked all participating governments for supporting the negotiations.
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk later stated that Poczobut’s release formed part of a broader prisoner exchange connected to US-backed discussions between Belarus and Western nations.
Poczobut, affiliated with the Polish minority community in Belarus and a journalist for Gazeta Wyborcza, had been jailed in 2021 after reporting on pro-democracy demonstrations. He was serving an eight-year prison sentence in a case that drew widespread international condemnation. The journalist was later honored with the European Union’s Sakharov Prize.
Poland’s Foreign Ministry added that the exchange also secured the release of Grzegorz Gawel, a Carmelite friar from Krakow, as part of the multinational agreement.
Belarus, a key ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, has released several detainees in recent years while the United States gradually eased certain sanctions on Minsk. Western governments, however, continue to criticize Belarus over alleged human rights violations and its support for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
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