US envoy meets Belarus leader Lukashenko in Minsk: What is on agenda
Trump's envoy arrives in Minsk for talks with Belarus leader (photo: t.me/s/pul_1)
Today, March 19, US President's special envoy John Cole arrived in Minsk on a visit, where he met with Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko, Belarus pro-government outlet Pool of the First reports.
"The Belarus-US talks are taking place at Independence Palace. Right now, 'the First' (a reference to Belarus leader Alexander Lukashenko - ed.) is receiving envoys of the Donald Trump team. The delegation is led by US special envoy to Belarus John Cole," the statement said.
No other details have been provided yet, but at the beginning of today's meeting, Lukashenko outlined the main topics for discussion.
According to him, the talks have a comprehensive nature and cover a wide range of bilateral issues.
Among them are normalization of diplomatic missions, prospects for economic cooperation, and the sensitive issue for the West of releasing political prisoners.
At the same time, the leader said that Belarusian legislation does not contain the concept of a political prisoner.
Previous visit of Cole to Minsk
US special envoy John Cole was appointed to this position in November 2025.
Since then, he has held several rounds of Belarus-US talks, meeting several times with Alexander Lukashenko, most recently in mid-December 2025.
During this time, he has already facilitated the release of about 100 hostages, including political prisoners.
Previous Cole-Lukashenko meetings also ended with agreements on the release of prisoners and discussions of economic issues.
In December 2025, following talks in Belarus, John Cole said that Belarusian leader Lukashenko allegedly gives "good advice" to Donald Trump and his administration on the war in Ukraine.
