VILNIUS, Lithuania (AP) — The United States will lift sanctions on Belarusian potash in the latest sign of a thaw between Washington and the isolated autocracy.

John Coale, the U.S. special envoy for Belarus, made the announcement after meeting the country’s authoritarian leader Alexander Lukashenko in the Belarusian capital of Minsk on Friday and Saturday.

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.

Speaking with journalists, Coale described two-day talks as “very productive,” Belarus’ state news agency Belta reported Saturday.

The U.S. envoy said that normalizing relations between Washington and Minsk was “our goal.”

“We’re lifting sanctions, releasing prisoners. We’re constantly talking to each other,” he said, according to Belta. He also said that the relationship between the countries was moving from “baby steps to more confident steps” as they increased dialogue.

The last time U.S. officials met with Lukashenko in September 2025, Washington announced easing some of the sanctions against Belarus while Mink released more than 50 political prisoners into Lithuania. Overall, Belarus released more than 430 political prisoners since July 2024, in what was widely seen as an effort at a rapprochement with the West.

The latest round discussions also touched on Venezuela, as well as Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine, Belta said.

Coale told reporters that Lukashenko had given “good advice” on how to address the conflict, saying that Lukashenko and Russian President Vladimir Putin were “longtime friends” with “the necessary level of relationship to discuss such issues.”

“Naturally, President Putin may accept some advice and not others,” Coale said.

The Associated Press