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Lukashenko trades prisoners for sanctions relief — and keeps the upper hand
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Lukashenko trades prisoners for sanctions relief — and keeps the upper hand

by Maria Yeryoma

As dust settles from a historic deal that saw Belarusian dictator Alexander Lukashenko free 123 political prisoners in exchange for a partial U.S. sanctions relief, the main question remains unanswered — what now? Trump’s newly appointed special envoy, John Coale, arrived in Minsk on Dec. 12 and secured the biggest prisoner release so far, with Nobel Peace Prize laureate Ales Bialiatski and leading opposition figures Viktar Babaryka and Maria Kalesnikava walking free the following day. The inc

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Ukraine calendar: What will happen this week

Editor's note: This article is a shortened on-site version of KI Insights' public newsletter, The Week Ahead, covering events from December 22-31. Sign up here to start your week with an agenda of Ukraine-related events delivered directly to your inbox every week. A new round of negotiations between the Ukrainian and U.S. delegations begins in Florida, focused on a proposed 20-point peace plan. Over the weekend, separate talks between the United States and Russia are also scheduled to take plac

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The Kyiv Independent’s coverage of news on Russia. Spanning eleven time zones across Eastern Europe and Asia, Russia has an estimated population of 146 million people. Russia’s capital city is Moscow, which is home to almost one in 10 Russians. Russia’s official currency is the Russian Ruble.

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