Belarusian authorities have released Nobel Peace Prize laureate Ales Bialiatski and key opposition figure Maria Kolesnikova from prison.

Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko has hosted a U.S. envoy for talks in Minsk, the latest step in the isolated leader’s effort to improve ties with the West.

Belarus’ authoritarian leader is threatening to seize over 1,000 Lithuanian trucks stranded in the country following the closure of its border with Lithuania after repeated incursions by air balloons carrying smuggled cigarettes.

Belarus has freed 52 political prisoners as part of a deal brokered by the United States.