Belarus freed 123 political prisoners on 13 December — hours after the US agreed to lift sanctions on Belarusian potash. Among them: Nobel laureate Ales Bialiatski, who spent 1,613 days behind bars, and Maria Kalesnikava, the flautist who tore up her passport at the border rather than be deported

The deal came with a price. Trump's envoy announced Washington would lift sanctions on potash — a key revenue source for Lukashenka's regime, which helped Russia launch its 2022 invasion of Ukraine. "Let's not be naive," exiled leader Tsikhanouskaya warned. "Lukashenka hasn't changed his policies."