Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko ordered the release of 123 political prisoners, pushing high-profile opponents into exile hours after a US envoy announced that Washington will lift sanctions on the country’s potash industry.
Alexander Lukashenko attends the Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO) Heads of State Council in Bishkek on Nov. 27.
The US will remove sanctions on Belarusian potash fertilizers, the key source of foreign-currency revenue for the Russia-aligned nation before Western restrictions stifled their flow.
A picture taken on October 6, 2013, shows a general view of Belaruskali potash mines near the Belarus town of Soligorsk, some 130 km south of the capital Minsk. The world's top potash producer Uralkali said last month the company's board had "no enthusiasm" in canceling the joint venture with Belarusian producer Belaruskali but that it didn't see any other option after coming across "clear evidence" that its partner was selling significant amounts of potash in competition with their joint venture. AFP PHOTO / VIKTOR DRACHEV (Photo by VIKTOR DRACHEV / AFP) (Photo by VIKTOR DRACHEV/AFP via Getty Images) Photographer: VIKTOR DRACHEV/AFP
A coalition of Ukraine’s allies will discuss a bid to move swiftly on US President Donald Trump’s peace proposal on Thursday as Kyiv’s forces carried out their first-ever attack on Russian Caspian Sea oil production.
Friedrich Merz, Keir Starmer, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, and Emmanuel Macron, in London, on Dec. 8. Photographer: Tolga Akmen/EPA
Ukrainian negotiators will join a new round of talks in Florida as Russian President Vladimir Putin said some of the points in a US-backed peace plan were unacceptable to him, the latest sign an agreement likely remains distant.
TOPSHOT - Local residents look on as a residential building burns following an air attack in Zaporizhzhia on November 25, 2025, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. (Photo by Darya NAZAROVA / AFP via Getty Images)
Ukraine’s parliament has passed the 2026 state budget, a key step toward securing a new loan from the International Monetary Fund.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky speaks during a joint press conference with his French counterpart at the Elysee Presidential Palace in Paris on December 1, 2025. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky meets French counterpart Emmanuel Macron, seeking to shore up European support as US President expressed optimism of a deal to end Russia's war in Ukraine. (Photo by Christophe Ena / POOL / AFP)
The European Union’s top diplomat expressed concern that US attempts to push Ukraine into a lopsided peace plan would only encourage Russia’s warmongering as Kyiv’s allies brace themselves for a week of talks to end Moscow’s invasion.
The resignation of Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s chief of staff leaves the Ukrainian president deprived of his most important adviser at a critical moment in the fight against the Russian invasion.
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskiy and Head of the Presidential Office Andriy Yermak in January 2024. Photographer: Maxym Marusenko/NurPhoto/Getty Images
Ukraine plans to hold high-ranking talks in Switzerland with US officials on the potential parameters for a peace agreement with Russia, according to a senior Ukrainian official.
Rustem Umerov, Ukraine's defense minister, at the 'Ukraine. Year 2025' forum in Kyiv, Ukraine, on Sunday, Feb. 23, 2025. Volodymyr Zelenskiy, Ukraine's president, said he would be ready to step down if it were to guarantee peace to his war-torn country. Photographer: Andrew Kravchenko/Bloomberg
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko pardoned 31 Ukrainians convicted of crimes in the former Soviet republic as part of agreements reached with US President Donald Trump.
Alexander Lukashenko Photographer: Ramil Sitdikov/Getty Images
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko pardoned 31 Ukrainians convicted of crimes in the former Soviet republic as part of agreements reached with US President Donald Trump.
Alexander Lukashenko Photographer: Ramil Sitdikov/Getty Images
Belarus’s leader released additional political prisoners and said he’ll seek a fresh round of talks with US officials in the latest signal that his Russian-aligned regime is making overtures to the West.
Alexander Lukashenko, Belarus' president, addresses the COP29 climate conference in Baku, Azerbaijan, on Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024. The United Nations climate change conference, COP29, runs through Nov. 22.
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