Exiled Belarusian opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya has urged US President Donald Trump to use his influence—including through further sanctions pressure—to help free more than 1,200 political prisoners held by Belarusian dictator Alexander Lukashenko, branding it ‘true moral leadership’.
Speaking with ASPI’s Stop the World podcast, Tsikhanouskaya credited Trump with helping secure the release of her husband, Sergei, in June after five years in prison, mostly in solitary confinement. But she stressed Lukashenko acted out of fear of further sanctions, not goodwill, and cautioned against granting him legitimacy in return for prisoner releases.
‘Trump has a real chance to make history, you know, by helping free all of them. That would be a legacy of true moral leadership,’ she said. ‘For us, it’s human beings—every life matters.’
Just hours after she spoke, a further 52 prisoners were released in Belarus. In a post on X responding to the release, Tsikhanouskaya noted that another eight Belarusians became political prisoners, according to civil rights groups, and more than 1,200 remained behind bars. She thanked Trump, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, and other European leaders.
Asked whether she’d like to see further sanctions piled on Lukashenko’s regime, she said:
I think that there is still space for more sanctions against Lukashenko regime. The only thing he is afraid of is emptying his pockets. And all these sanctions are really painful for Lukashenko … Now President Trump is like using carrots, but there are also sticks that might be used if necessary.
Tsikhanouskaya, recognised by many Western governments as the rightful winner of Belarus’s 2020 election, described her homeland as a country taken ‘hostage’ by a dictator dependent on Moscow. Lukashenko, in power for 31 years, has hollowed out courts, media, education and civil society, she said, maintaining authority only through violence and repression.
For ordinary Belarusians, life under this regime is really nightmare. We live like in Gulag times, in Stalin’s time… You can be detained for everything: reading independent news or showing support to Ukraine can land you in jail. Even buying a Christmas present for a child of political prisoner—it’s a crime in our country.
Describing her country under Moscow’s influence as a ‘balcony’ for Russia into Europe, Tsikhanouskaya said: ‘Russian soldiers train on our land. Nuclear weapons are deployed in our country. Lukashenko serves only his own survival—and Putin’s needs.’
Poland was forced to shoot down several Russian drones that penetrated deep into its airspace this week, some of them from Belarus. It was the first direct clash between Russia and a NATO member since Moscow’s 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Tsikhanouskaya was not involved in politics until her husband, a popular blogger and democracy activist, was arrested after declaring his candidacy in 2020. She then stepped in and, according to independent observers, won the election despite the obstacles Lukashenko put in her way. When the strongman declared victory anyway, more than 1.5 million Belarusians—a sixth of the population—hit the streets, sparking a brutal crackdown and Tsikhanouskaya’s forced deportation.
Tsikhanouskaya and her fellow democracy movement members have built what she calls a ‘proto-state’ abroad that is ready to govern. It comprises an Office of the President-elect, a United Transitional Cabinet serving as a government-in-waiting, and a Coordination Council functioning as a parliament.
Tsikhanouskaya acknowledges there has been a significant impact on her family but says this is the price of building a free future for all Belarusian children.
‘I don’t spend much time with my children, but they know why I’m doing this,’ she said. ‘But I… want to hope that after changes, our children will cherish what we are fighting for, what we are building for them, and that they will never allow [a] new dictatorship in our country, knowing what price we are paying for this.’
Tsikhanouskaya rejected the suggestions that change in Belarus depends on change in Russia.
‘We don’t have to wait for changes in Russia. Free Belarus can be the biggest sanctions, first of all, against Moscow,’ she said. ‘And I’m sure that changes in Belarus can spark changes in Russia. So it’s like vice versa situation.’
The war in Ukraine has only deepened Belarusian determination, she said. Partisans sabotaged railways to disrupt Russian troop movements, while Belarusian volunteers joined Ukrainian forces.
‘We realised that we have to do everything possible to help Ukrainians to win this war, because it will be also a window of opportunity for us Belarusians.’