Dear John,
Belarusian President Alyaksandr Lukashenka is neither a good-faith actor nor a friend to the United States. He violently represses his own people, enables and participates in the Kremlin’s illegal war against Ukraine, and regularly threatens European security—and by extension, US national security interests.
As the United States and European allies continue to pursue a negotiated end to the Russian military aggression against Ukraine, Freedom House urges policymakers to hold Lukashenka accountable for his complicity in and enabling of Putin’s war, and for widespread repression in Belarus.
In exchange for any sanctions relief, which the regime is clearly seeking with the recent release of political prisoners, the US and European governments should require Lukashenka to meet several new conditions.
