VILNIUS: Belarus opposition leader Syarhei Tsikhanouski and 13 other prisoners were released from jail on Saturday and are now free in Lithuania, the neighbouring country`s government said. The release was brokered by US special envoy Keith Kellogg, a spokesperson for Lithuania`s prime minister said.

Kellogg earlier met Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, the country`s state news agency Belta said.

Tsikhanouski`s wife Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, in a post on social media service X, thanked US President Donald Trump as well as Kellogg and others for their efforts to secure her husband`s release.

`We`re not done,Tsikhanouskaya wrote on her X account, calling for the release of a further 1,150 prisoners.

Five Belarus nationals were released along with three Poles, two Latvians, two Japanese citizens and one Swede, Lithuania said.

Among those released by Belarus was Ihar Karnei, a former journalist at Radio Free Europe/ Radio Liberty, RFE/RL President and CEO Stephen Capus said in a statement thanking Trump, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

`We thank Secretary Rubio and his team, the Lithuanian government, and the international community for their support of our imprisoned journalists,` he added.-Reuters