cross-posted from: https://mander.xyz/post/43885237
Op-ed by Boris Bondarev, former Russian diplomat who resigned in protest of the invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
The Belarusian authorities have released 123 political prisoners following negotiations with the United States. From a humanitarian standpoint, this decision can only be welcomed: every drop of freedom regained is meaningful. Yet these releases did not occur in a vacuum and were accompanied by the relaxation sanctions on the regime.
Though the deal did not lift all sanctions, the exemptions and waivers granted reopened access to critically important export revenues. What we are therefore dealing with is not a humanitarian gesture, but a transactional bargain with long-term strategic consequences.
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From a human perspective, freeing political prisoners is an unmitigated good. But in politics, the mechanism matters as much as the outcome.
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Make no mistake, striving to free political prisoners is a moral imperative. But it cannot be the ultimate goal of policy. Political prisoners are a symptom of the disease — the repressive dictatorial regime — and dismantling that regime must be the primary strategic task. Policymakers must aim to make the very phenomenon of political prisoners disappear from reality. Not by offering palliative care, but by curing the disease itself.
[Edit typo.]
I’m unsure what sanctions relief US will precisely provide Belarus ( there were talks of opening the airspace, but here they talk about fertilizers and some trade), but it’s almost guaranteed that this sanctionrelief will give Ruzzia a new lifeline, prolonging the conflict and they counter the sanctions that are in place.
I’d welcome a future where Belarusians will be free.
