Belarus opposition leader says US needs to use stick as well as carrot with Lukashenko

By Gwladys Fouche

OSLO, ‌Dec 10 (Reuters) - Exiled Belarus opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya accused President Alexander Lukashenko on Wednesday of using political prisoners as ‍bargaining chips ‌and said the U.S. needs to use both incentives and pressure as it negotiates with the veteran authoritarian leader.

President Donald ⁠Trump has ordered his special envoy to Belarus, John Coale, ‌to work on the release of some 1,300 prisoners whom Trump has described as "hostages".

But since Coale negotiated the release of 51 people in September, Belarusian human rights group Viasna has designated a further 157 people as political prisoners.

"You have to understand that for Lukashenko, political prisoners are just bargaining ⁠chips. He wants to sell political prisoners as expensively as possible," Tsikhanouskaya told Reuters in an interview in Oslo. 

"It's like revolving doors at the moment: some are ​released, twice more are detained. But we need to stop repressions fully."

Lukashenko denies ‌there are political prisoners in Belarus, insisting those behind bars ⁠are guilty of serious crimes. He has said he is ready for a "big deal" with the United States, provided Belarusian interests are respected, but has questioned why he should free people he sees as enemies of the state who might "again wage ​war against us".

BALANCING INCENTIVES AND PRESSURE

Tsikhanouskaya said the opposition welcomed the releases so far and hoped for "some good news at the end of the year". She dismissed a suggestion that the U.S., which has begun easing sanctions on Belarus, was rewarding Lukashenko too generously.

"The Americans are not naive...They understand what sanctions might be lifted, what sanctions not, and their decisions are rather wise," ​she said.

"Our ‍task is to make sure that President ​Trump has carrots, and he uses carrots at the moment, but he also has sticks if the Belarusian regime doesn't fulfil... the deal. Sanctions can be put in place as fast as possible."

LUKASHENKO-PUTIN ALLIANCE ENDURES

But Tsikhanouskaya dismissed the notion that diplomacy could drive a wedge between Lukashenko and his close ally, Russian President Vladimir Putin - an objective U.S. officials have told Reuters is part of Trump's strategy.

"We should stop thinking that we can separate Lukashenko and Putin from each other. They have a symbiotic friendship; they support each ⁠other, they are helping each other, for example, to circumvent sanctions," she said.

"It's not our task to split them or to save Lukashenko from Putin. Our task is to save our ​country, Belarus, from both Lukashenko and Putin."

Tsikhanouskaya was speaking on the sidelines of a ceremony in the Norwegian capital to confer the Nobel Peace Prize on Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, whom she praised as "fantastic and fearless".

She carried with her a portrait of Belarusian human rights campaigner Ales Bialiatski, who won the same prize in 2022 ‌but remains in jail.

"I want to highlight that this wonderful person is still in prison and we have to take all efforts to release him and the other 1,300 political prisoners," she said.

(Reporting by Gwladys Fouche, writing by Mark Trevelyan; Editing by Ros Russell)