Coale wrote on X that the US would “continue to improve US-Belarus relations” and was working to secure the release of more people in the near future.
He also announced that the US would lift sanctions on two Belarusian companies.
Poczobut, a Polish-Belarusian journalist and activist with the Union of Poles in Belarus, was in Lublin, eastern Poland, for a concert where he received the Medal marking the 550th anniversary of Poland's eastern Lubelskie province.
While in Lublin, Poczobut called the release of 25 prisoners a success, particularly for the prisoners and their families. According to Poczobut, US diplomacy has led to the release of 700 political prisoners in Belarus in recent years.
Poczobut described Belarus as “five minutes short” of being a totalitarian state, while noting that repression continues.
He said the lack of a breakthrough shows how far the situation has gone and how difficult it is to stop the machinery of repression.
Poczobut spent more than five years in detention and Belarusian prisons and was released in April after serving part of an eight-year sentence. Human rights organisations recognised him as a political prisoner.
He was awarded Poland's Order of the White Eagle by President Karol Nawrocki in November 2025.
(sp)
Source: PAP