MOSCOW
Belarus’ president said Friday that the US has offered him "a big deal" that will include diplomatic and economic relations.
Aleksandr Lukashenko said US President Donald Trump invited him for a meeting in Florida, at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort.
"During negotiations, the Americans, on behalf of Trump, proposed concluding a big deal that would encompass a number of issues on our negotiation agenda. Well, am I going to deny it? So I said: ‘Tell Donald that I agree to prepare this big deal’," he told a press briefing in the Belarusian capital Minsk.
He added that his administration outlined the Belarusian interests and sent a corresponding proposal to the American side.
"According to what they informed me, they are working on it," Lukashenko said.
According to Lukashenko, the "big deal" involves "not only political prisoners, of which we have none," but also the functioning of embassies, issues related to the storage of spent nuclear materials, customs issues, including drug trafficking, and cigarette smuggling into neighboring countries using weather balloons.
"We gradually accumulated these issues, and in the third round they said that we are ready, Donald is proposing a big deal and a meeting, even at his home in Florida, to discuss and come to an agreement. I said anytime," he added, but did not specify a date for the meeting.
On Thursday, John Coale, Trump’s special envoy for Belarus, met with Lukashenko in Minsk.
Following the meeting, Lukashenko’s office announced that he had granted pardon to 250 prisoners, including at least 15 who had worked for opposition media and which the West called "political prisoners.”
Under the Biden administration, US relations with Belarus suffered, in large part due to Minsk’s support for Russia in the Ukraine war. Since late in the Biden administration, however, and with Trump’s return to the White House last year, ties have improved under a more Russia-friendly presidency.