Cufflink diplomacy: The United States wanted to return the embassy to Belarus
President Alexander Lukashenko met with a representative of the American leader in Belarus. Donald Trump handed over a gift to Minsk — cufflinks with the image of the White House. As a sign of goodwill, several dozen people were released in Belarus and declared their readiness for a "big deal" on prisoners. In response, Washington lifted sanctions against Belavia Airlines and declared its readiness to open an American embassy in the country. In contrast, the European Union is building fundamentally different relations with Belarus: on the night of September 12, Poland completely closed its border, Latvia wants to follow its example. Izvestia dealt with the difference in approaches.
Not empty-handed
The representative of the President of the United States, John Cole, flew to Minsk for a meeting with Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko with a letter from Donald Trump and a gift of cufflinks with the image of the White House.
"Dear Mr. Lukashenko, Melania and I convey our best wishes on the occasion of your birthday," read the message, which Trump signed with his first name. The letter wished well-being and health to Lukashenko and expressed confidence in the continuation of joint work. Trump did not forget to mention in his message the victory of Belarusian tennis player Arina Sobolenko at the US Open in New York.
According to John Cole, such a message and signature is a "special sign of friendship" on the part of the US president, since he very rarely signs his first name.
Lukashenko noted that the cufflinks are "interesting" and promised not to remain in debt.
At the talks, the representative of the US president said that Trump demanded that sanctions be lifted immediately from the Belarusian state-owned airline Belavia and that this decision had already been approved and accepted by all relevant ministries and departments.
He also added that the American authorities would like to return the American embassy to Belarus.
"We want economic relations and trade to develop between our countries," the American official stressed.
Minsk also demonstrated a gesture of goodwill in response. As explained in the press service of the Belarusian leader, "President Lukashenko has decided to pardon a number of foreign citizens convicted of espionage, participation in extremist and terrorist activities and who committed other criminal acts on the territory of the Republic of Belarus."
Cars with pardoned prisoners at the U.S. Embassy in Lithuania
At first, it was reported that 14 people had been pardoned: six of them were citizens of Lithuania, two each from Latvia, Poland and Germany, one from France and one from Britain. However, later, Lukashenko's press service clarified that the president had pardoned a total of 52 people and all of them had left the country.
The Belarusian leader declared his readiness to discuss with his American counterpart a global deal on the release of prisoners.
The sky and borders were blocked
Meanwhile, the European Union is building relations with Minsk in a completely different way. Brussels is constantly increasing pressure, and in mid-July expanded sanctions, approving a complete ban on financial transactions with Belarus. Previously, the restrictive measures only affected specialized financial messaging services.
In addition, the new sanctions package introduced restrictions on the military complex of Belarus, they affected eight facilities of the country's military-industrial complex. In particular, an arms import embargo has been imposed.
A year earlier, the European Union expanded sanctions against the authorities, judges and investigators of Belarus, blacklisting 28 more citizens of the republic. In total, over 300 individuals and 40 organizations are under EU sanctions.
Warsaw and the three Baltic countries have spoken out most harshly against Minsk. On the night of September 12, the Polish authorities completely closed the land border with Belarus, as well as the airspace.
Terespol International border checkpoint after closure
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk explained that this was being done "because of the Belarusian-Russian Zapad-2025 exercises scheduled for September 12-16. Over 13,000 people will take part in them, the countries are going to work out coordination of actions to protect the Union State, as well as plan the use of nuclear weapons and the Oreshnik missile system.
Latvia is ready to follow Poland's example, and the last checkpoint on the border of the two countries has been closed. This was stated by the country's Interior Minister Richard Kozlovskis, explaining that this decision should be a "unified and coordinated action of all three Baltic countries."
The day before, the Latvian Seimas (the country's parliament) submitted to the National Security commission a draft decision on the complete closure of the borders with Russia and Belarus for the duration of the Zapad military exercises. The Lithuanian Ministry of Defense also announced the closure of the airspace on the border with Belarus.
What do the experts think
Nikolai Mezhevich, head of the Center for Belarusian Studies at the Institute of Europe of the Russian Academy of Sciences, noted in an interview with Izvestia that cooperation between Washington and Minsk should not be called the restoration of relations.
— There is a complex process of mutual trade between a superpower and an average European state with significantly less potential. The republic is part of the Union State of Russia and Belarus, and is a member of the SCO and the Eurasian Economic Union. The country is located in the center of Europe and claims certain bonuses in accordance with this," the political scientist explained.
The expert noted that Belarus is an independent state with its own foreign policy and interests.
"In many ways, these interests coincide with Russian ones, but not 100%, and this must be taken into account," the specialist added.
Yevgeny Preigerman, director of the Minsk Dialogue Council on Foreign Relations, told Izvestia that the approach of Brussels and Washington to relations with Minsk and Moscow differs in its philosophy.
— The Europeans repeat like a mantra day after day that they have principles that they have proclaimed to themselves, and put forward some conditions. At the same time, they themselves do not understand what the conditions are and what they want," the expert explained.
At the same time, although Trump's interests often do not coincide with either Russian or Belarusian ones, the American leader adheres to the idea of a diplomatic settlement.
— He needs negotiations to achieve some results or solve any problems. That's the difference," the specialist said.
At the same time, not everyone in Europe shares the harsh approaches of Poland and the Baltic countries towards Belarus and the Russian Federation, the expert noted.
— They are wondering: who gives them the right to dictate to us and the entire European Union what policy should be towards Minsk and Moscow. If there is any progress in the Belarusian-American relations, it cannot be ruled out that some de-escalation measures may begin," the political scientist explained.
Preigerman added that in the event of an escalation, there are two possible scenarios for the development of events.
— The first one is that the escalation is becoming chronic. For example, the temporary closure of the borders between Poland and Belarus may take a long time. The second is a sharp de-escalation. It is difficult to make any long-term forecasts yet, but given that the situation is developing and US-Belarusian talks are underway, there are chances for de—escalation," the expert concluded.
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