Cole said the US intends to return $43–44 million stuck in Citibank to Belarus

Cole said on Tuesday at a meeting with the Belarusian president in Minsk that these funds should be unfrozen and returned, and that the American side has already contacted the bank with a request to unfreeze the funds and is working out a mechanism for how to do this, Interfax reported.

Lukashenko had earlier said that $43–44 million in Belarusian funds were stuck in Citibank. According to him, the money was paid by a company that cooperated with Belarus, and the government has already reported the situation to him in writing.

The Belarusian president called what is happening a disgrace for the US and suggested first returning the money and only then moving on to more serious agreements.

On September 14, before his new trip to Minsk, Cole met with Lithuania’s foreign minister and discussed the US administration’s efforts to secure the release of those convicted in Belarus for extremist crimes, the security situation in the region, and Minsk’s policy toward Lithuania and other countries.

On March 19, 2026, after Lukashenko’s talks with Cole in Minsk, the pardon of a group of 250 people convicted of extremist crimes and serving sentences in Belarusian penal institutions was announced. After that, Cole announced the lifting of US sanctions on Belinvestbank, the Development Bank, and Belarus’s Ministry of Finance, as well as the removal of “Belarusian Potash Company” and “Belaruskali” from all US-initiated sanctions lists.

Sources

• Interfax