As reported by Radio Liberty, the special envoy’s mission includes mediation in matters of the release and exchange of prisoners.
Trump wrote on Truth that Cole has already agreed with the authorities of Belarus on the release of more than 65 convicted citizens of the U.S. and U.S.-friendly countries and is negotiating the release of more than 800 political prisoners from jails in various Eastern European countries. He did not name the specific countries, other than Belarus.
In this post, Cole will replace Adam Boehler, who, according to Trump, will continue working as a senior adviser on Cole’s team.
In September, the U.S., with Cole’s mediation, agreed with Alexander Lukashenko on the release of 25 political prisoners from Belarusian jails in exchange for lifting economic sanctions from some Belarusian enterprises. At that time, Cole said that the negotiations would continue and that, once all issues were resolved, even more people would be freed, and the United States would continue lifting sanctions.
In the spring, former editor-in-chief of Novaya Gazeta and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Dmitry Muratov met with Cole and told him about opponents of Vladimir Putin’s policies in Russian prisons and penal colonies, asking the U.S. to help secure their release. According to The Atlantic, Cole proposed that Trump use the same scheme — the release of political prisoners in exchange for easing American sanctions, including those imposed on Russian oil exports, and Trump approved the idea.
On September 30, the press secretary of Russian President Vladimir Putin, Dmitry Peskov, said that the Kremlin would not consider such an exchange because, in his words, “there are no political prisoners in Russia”.
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