No. Negotiations are not a reward. They are a tool — used in crises around the world to save lives.

Choosing dialogue doesn’t mean abandoning principles.

It means protecting those who paid the price for the principles we all stand for.

We don’t operate on trust — we operate on facts. The release of over 300 people since 2024 is a fact. The regime’s need to exit international isolation is a fact.

In negotiations, trust isn’t granted in advance — it’s built through action. One release is a step, responding to it is the next step. This is how even the most unlikely processes begin to move.

Right now, the process is slow. Our job is to help it move faster.

Our ultimate goal is to end repression — not to trade names.
But that won’t happen all at once.

For the people released, freedom means everything. It’s not just a number — it’s a life, a family, a future. We can’t reduce this to a balance sheet of prisoners in and out.

So let’s stop talking about numbers — and start talking about lives.

The release of political prisoners, reducing and ultimately ending state repression, de-escalation, and an end to international isolation — these are not fringe goals.
This is Belarus’s national interest.

Our initiative offers a realistic, constructive way forward.
It benefits civil society, it benefits the state, and it contributes to regional security.

This is no time for more polarization. This is the time to look for a way forward — together.

Back then, the regional context was different. So was the relationship between the state and society — and the maturity of the Belarusian nation.

Today, moving forward means taking responsibility for our country. It means recognizing this crisis as our national problem — and facing it with maturity: through dialogue.