Lukashenko meets with U.S. Envoy Kellogg, pardons 14 convicts at Trump's request

MINSK. June 23 (Interfax) - - Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has pardoned 14 convicts, his press secretary Natalia Eismont said on Saturday.

"The president has made a decision to pardon 14 convicts. This was a request of the president of the United States of America," Eismont was quoted by the First Man's Pool Telegram channel close to the Belarusian president's press service, as saying.

"These are mainly foreigners: two Japanese citizens, three Polish citizens, two Latvians, as well as citizens of Estonia, Sweden and the United States. Several Belarusians are also on the list," Eismont said.

"These individuals were convicted for extremist and terrorist activities. One of them is Sergei Tikhanovsky. The decision to release Tikhanovsky was made by the president purely out of humane considerations, for the purpose of family reunification," she said.

The First Man's Pool Telegram channel close to the Belarusian presidential press service said that Lukashenko had a meeting with U.S. Special Envoy for Ukraine Keith Kellogg in Minsk on Saturday.

The agenda of the negotiations between Lukashenko and Kellogg included international problems, the situation in the world in general, regional matters, and Belarusian-U.S. relations, Belarus's BelTA official news agency reported.