Live Update 
From the Liveblog of
Saturday, December 13, 2025
From the Liveblog of
Saturday, December 13, 2025
US says it will lift some trade sanctions on Belarus amid thawing ties
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In this photo released by Belarusian presidential press service, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, right, and US Presidential envoy John Coale shake hands during their meeting in Minsk, Belarus, December 12, 2025. (Belarusian Presidential Press Service via AP)
The United States says it will lift sanctions on Belarusian potash in the latest sign of a thaw between Washington and the isolated autocracy.
John Coale, the US special envoy for Belarus, is meeting the country’s authoritarian leader Alexander Lukashenko for talks in the Belarusian capital of Minsk this weekend.
A close ally of Russia, Minsk has faced Western isolation and sanctions for years. Lukashenko has ruled the nation of 9.5 million with an iron fist for more than three decades, and the country has been repeatedly sanctioned by Western countries both for its crackdown on human rights and for allowing Moscow to use its territory in the invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
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