Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda said on Thursday that the prisoners, along with the US delegation, had crossed into Lithuania. “No man left behind! 52 prisoners safely crossed the Lithuanian border from Belarus today, leaving behind barbed wire, barred windows and constant fear,” he wrote on X. US President Donald Trump had called on Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, to release detainees whom the US leader has described as “hostages”. Belarus later confirmed their release. In return for Lukashenko’s gesture, Washington will grant sanctions relief to Belarus’s national airline Belavia, allowing it to service and buy components for its fleet, which includes Boeing aircraft, the US embassy spokesperson in the Lithuanian capital Vilnius said.

It was the biggest batch of prisoners yet pardoned by Lukashenko, who is seeking to repair relations with the United States after years of isolation and sanctions on his former Soviet state. But it was far short of the 1,300 or 1,400 prisoners whose release Trump had called for in a conversation with Lukashenko last month, as well as in subsequent social media posts. (Al Jazeera)