Trump opens door for Lukashenko to maneuver away from Putin — journalist Portnikov

Journalist Vitaly Portnikov shared his opinions with Espreso TV.

"Essentially, Trump rewarded Lukashenko with visits by his representatives, Steve Witkoff and his deputies, for releasing political prisoners from Belarusian torture chambers. And now, just before his meeting with Putin, he called Lukashenko, referred to him as a highly respected president, and said that Lukashenko had promised to release 1,300 political prisoners and that he would be happy to welcome him in Minsk," he said.

Portnikov believes that if Trump rewards Lukashenko with a visit and Lukashenko releases all political prisoners, it may not look favorable politically.

"He will legitimize another dictator, another usurper of power. But think about the people held in Lukashenko's torture chambers. There are many of them. They hold different political views, have entirely different life paths, but all of them are brutalized, denied a normal life, imprisoned simply because they wanted Belarus to be a normal country, to participate in the political process, to help decide the fate of their nation. Now Trump is trying to free these people, and he has already secured the release of some of them," Portnikov said.

In his view, Trump is an empathetic person when it comes to individual cases: “People are not black and white.”

"Trump is who he is. He has shown empathy many times. He has always tried to free American citizens from prison. He is genuinely interested in this. We may not like his political views or his sympathies for authoritarian rulers, but when it comes to specific people, I think that when he says he doesn't want people to be killed, he is absolutely sincere. This is exactly what Donald Trump is," the journalist believes.

Portnikov also shared his thoughts on the main reason for the call.

"It's that Trump thinks he can pull Belarus away from Russia, just as he believes he can pull Russia away from China. That's the main reason. He's playing political games. And is he playing badly? If he managed to get the leaders of Azerbaijan and Armenia to come to the White House and sign all their peace agreements in front of him — which may not mean anything serious or concrete — it still means that the Zangezur corridor will be controlled not by Russia, but by America. This is a political move; he is trying to pull the South Caucasus away from Russia," he said.

The journalist stressed that Russia is being forced to agree to this.

"This week, we even heard that Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexei Averchuk, to the surprise of all participants at the Eurasian Economic Union meeting — and even more so to the Iranian vice president, who attended as an observer — said that Russia has nothing against the American corridor. That is, the Russians have to go along with this," Portnikov noted.

In his view, this is all part of Trump's political calculation.

"On the one hand, he applauds Putin, and on the other, we know he is a man of trade who knows how to negotiate. He is ready to offer something to Putin while simultaneously reducing his influence in the South Caucasus. The same applies to Belarus. Lukashenko can betray anyone," he stressed.

The journalist believes that, in reality, Trump is giving Lukashenko room to maneuver.

"After 2020, Lukashenko had no room to maneuver. He could fly to Beijing and Caracas, besides Moscow, but that didn't really give him any leverage. Now, however, he has been given some room to maneuver. It's tempting. There's Washington, where he can meet Trump without Putin or Russian spies present. He can just say to Trump: ‘Donald, save me from him. Donald, please, I can't take it anymore.’ And Putin cannot control this. If Lukashenko suddenly goes to Washington, Putin doesn't even know what Lukashenko will say to Trump," Portnikov added.

He said this already creates an atmosphere of mistrust between Putin and Lukashenko.

"You know, it's like in a family. Putin will say to Lukashenko: ‘Are you sure you don't want to go there?’ ‘No, no, no, no, no, no. And if I go, Vladimir, I will defend you there. I'll tell Trump that you're the best.’ ‘Oh, I'm not sure you'll say that.’ ‘Trust me. I'll even record a video, take a selfie with Trump.’ Trump, I would say, is playing a rather complicated game with Lukashenko and Putin,” the journalist believes.

Portnikov emphasized that he does not support the legitimization of Lukashenko.

"But the fact that he gives Lukashenko the opportunity to maneuver between him and Putin, and that he may ultimately save a number of human lives and destinies, appeals to me. I would very much like to see the people who rose up in 2020 against this vile dictatorial puppet regime set free. I believe they deserve a normal life and respect, not what this regime is doing to them. And this is aside from what Trump is saying in this call," he concluded.

• A few hours before the summit in Alaska, U.S. President Donald Trump held a phone conversation with the self-proclaimed president of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko.