Let Trump be Trump to save jailed Belarusians, opposition leader says

But beneath the surface, the opposition’s view of the transatlantic campaign to squeeze Lukashenko has evolved. 

They’re still leaning on the Trump administration to promote prisoner releases. But Europe, Tsikhanouskaya’s team now believes, is best positioned to champion the cause of Belarusian freedom — with ever-tightening sanctions key to the pressure campaign.

“European sanctions and tough and principled position is, in the language of President Trump, it’s their cards,” Tsikhanouskaya said. “Now, President Trump is playing his cards, but European cards have to be used just for irreversible, for consistent changes in Belarus.”

Meanwhile Tsikhanouski, who was set free from prison just over three months ago, is still looking to carve out his role in the opposition after five years behind bars, during which his wife stepped up to run against Lukashenko in 2020 then led the exiled opposition.

He’d been held incommunicado for more than two years prior to his release. As Tsikhanouskaya put it, her husband “discovered himself in 2025 but mentally he was in 2020.”

The adjustment, she said, has been difficult.