Belarusian authorities released a U.S. national, a Belarusian reporter for a U.S. funded media outlet and a supporter of the opposition in an apparent effort to mend ruptured relations with Washington.

Belarusian authorities released a U.S. national, a Belarusian reporter for a U.S. funded media outlet, and an opposition supporter on Wednesday in an apparent effort to mend ruptured relations with Washington.

The release of the American citizen who was not identified follows that of Anastassia nuhfer, another U.S. Citizen, last month.

Andrey Kuznechyk was also released, a Belarusian Journalist for the Belarus Service of the U.S. Government-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty who had been convicted on charges of belonging to an “extremist” group.

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Alena Maushuk was also released. She was sentenced and convicted for taking part in riots.

Sviatlana Sikhanouskaya, the Belarus opposition leader in exile, thanked U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and President Donald Trump for the release of three prisoners. She cited “the joint effort that made it possible.”

Last month, Belarus’ authoritarian president Alexander Lukashenko, who has been in power for more than 30 years, extended his rule by extending the results of an election which was deemed a farce by the opposition.

Lukashenko has pardoned over 250 people in the past few months. He is trying to repair the ties that have been severed with Western countries after Belarusian authorities reacted to mass protests following his re-election to 2020 with a brutal crackdown.

More than 65,000 arrests, thousands of beaten victims and prominent opposition figures fled abroad or went to prison. More than 1,200 political prisoner are held in the country, including Nobel Peace Prize winner Ales Bialiatski, founder of Viasna Human Rights Center.

The US and EU have imposed sanctions on Belarus because of the repression of dissent, and Lukashenko’s support of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. This has dealt a severe blow to its Soviet-style economy.

Valery Karbalevich is an independent political analyst. He said that Lukashenka was sending clear signals to Trump’s administration regarding his desire to begin bargaining with the Trump Administration for the lifting of sanctions in exchange for the freedom of political prisoners. “Minsk awaits a response to its ‘goodwill gestures’.”

Kuznechyk has been in prison for more than three year after he was sentenced to 6 years on charges he and other rights activists dismissed.

This is a happy day for Andrey and his family, especially their two children. This family has been together for more than three long years, thanks to President Trump,” RFE/RL’s President & CEO Stephen Capus stated in a press release. He expressed hope that Ihar Losik and another journalist imprisoned by the outlet would also be released.