Belarus leader dampens hopes for mass prisoner release after Trump's appeal

By Mark Trevelyan

Aug 22 (Reuters) - Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko on Friday dampened hopes for a mass release of prisoners that U.S. President Donald Trump requested from him in a phone call last week.

The Belarus opposition and human rights groups say up to 1,300 political prisoners - a figure also cited by Trump - are being held in Belarusian jails. Many of them were arrested when he cracked down on mass protests after a disputed election in 2020.

Lukashenko, in power since 1994, denies there are political prisoners in Belarus and described the people in question as "bandits".

"We will release them, and they will again wage war against us? Society won't support me on this," he was quoted as saying by state news agency Belta.

Lukashenko is a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin and has faced years of isolation and sanctions from the West because of his human rights record and backing for Moscow's war in Ukraine.

But Trump's surprise call last week, followed by social media posts in which he called Lukashenko "the highly respected President of Belarus" and said he hoped for the early release of the 1,300 prisoners, have opened up the possibility of a thaw in relations.

Franak Viacorka, chief advisor to exiled Belarusian opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, said Trump's intervention was a "big present" to Lukashenko but it had also sharply raised the stakes and increased pressure on him.

"Lukashenko is in a tough position... If he denies (the request), he will go into conflict with Trump. If he agrees, then he loses his last and only bargaining chip - political hostages," Viacorka told Reuters.

He said Lukashenko saw the high-profile detainees - including Nobel Peace Prize winner Ales Bialiatski and prominent opposition leader Maria Kalesnikava - as a threat to his hold on power. "He's afraid if these people are free and stay (in Belarus), there will be another wave of protest."

Lukashenko on Friday rejected the idea of talking to the opposition, saying he had nothing to discuss with them. He also said that he had told the Americans he would break off dialogue with them if they engaged with his political opponents.

"I warned the Americans right away: as soon as we learn that you are starting to play along with them, our fugitives, and are starting to play some kind of game here together, we will immediately stop all negotiations with you," he said.

Viacorka, however, said that Tsikhanouskaya's camp had been in contact with both the State Department and White House officials since Trump's call with Lukashenko.

"I don't think, no matter what Lukashenko wants, that the Americans will stop talking to us," he said.