When they finally met at the American embassy in Vilnius, Tsikhanouskaya was shocked by her husband’s appearance. Siarhei had lost half his body weight. He told friends he’d forgotten how to speak in prison. Their daughter initially didn’t recognize him.
“When he started talking, she just recognized his voice only,” Tsikhanouskaya said. “Of course, there was an ocean of tears, hugs. But prison changes people a lot. It’s like gray face, very skinny people.”
Tsikhanouskaya still isn’t sure why the regime freed her husband. But Lukashenko has made a practice of releasing prisoners in exchange for international credibility. Relations with the former Biden administration were especially frosty; now, senior White House officials have traveled to Minsk to meet the Belarusian leader.
As the White House ramps up its presence in Belarus, she wants to ensure the Trump administration is prepared to reject Lukashenko’s efforts to establish legitimacy.
Tsikhanouskaya is appealing to Trump’s legacy: Belarus could be “President Trump’s foreign policy success story” if he and America’s allies ensure the country is not handed to Russia as a consolation prize in negotiations to end the war in Ukraine, she said.
“I trust that American partners … know who they’re dealing with,” Tsikhanouskaya said.