US President Donald Trump has once again mentioned Belarusian political prisoners and called Aliaksandr Lukashenka a fantastic leader.
During a press conference at the White House on May 11, journalists asked Trump whether the United States would be able to secure the release of Hong Kong activist Jimmy Lai, who was sentenced in China to 20 years in prison. Answering the question, Trump recalled John Coale, his special envoy for Belarus, and stated that he had secured the release of hundreds of people in Belarus.
“He got out hundreds of people in Belarus. The leader of Belarus is a fantastic guy. But somebody had to ask him. Biden never asked him. We asked him. We got out hundreds of people from prisons that shouldn’t have been there. Hundreds. And many of those people weren’t even from our country,” Trump said.
Yesterday on the social network Truth Social, Trump commented on the release of Andrzej Poczobut (Andrei Pachobut) and the exchange on the Belarusian-Polish border under a five-for-five formula. He thanked Lukashenka for his “cooperation and friendship.”
