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Kellogg: U.S. Is Not “Naive” About Lukashenko’s Regime

At the Warsaw Security Forum, U.S. Special Envoy Keith Kellogg underlined that Washington’s recent agreement with Belarus was aimed primarily at maintaining communication channels with Moscow, rather than securing the release of political prisoners. According to The Guardian, Kellogg said the U.S. focus on self-proclaimed Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko was driven by his close ties with Vladimir Putin: “We established relations to ensure openness of communication channels, so we could make sure all of our messages were passed to Putin. That’s why we did it. At the start, we weren’t planning to release political prisoners.” While welcoming the release of some detainees, Kellogg stressed that this was not the main objective: “The overall goal was not the release of political prisoners, but finding the best way to resolve the war between Ukraine and Russia.” The envoy emphasized the importance of message discipline: “I don’t care if it’s Kirill Dmitriev, or [Yuri] Ushakov, or Lukashenko. What matters is that these messages are delivered.” Kellogg also warned that the U.S. holds no illusions about Minsk’s leadership: “We are not naive about Lukashenko’s rule. If he releases one prisoner, he will probably take two more.” He further noted that part of the deal with Belarus was to allow state airline Belavia to repair its planes, explaining: “The best option is for their planes not to fall out of the sky. But it was made clear they must not use them for criminal purposes or to traffic migrants into Europe.” Earlier this month, Belarus released 52 political prisoners, after which the U.S. lifted sanctions on Belavia. However, Washington banned the airline from using U.S. aircraft for flights to certain destinations, including Russia. The post Kellogg: U.S. Is Not “Naive” About Lukashenko’s Regime appeared first on Freedom.