In a move to ease tensions with the West, Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko on Saturday pardoned and released Siarhei Tsikhanouski, a key opposition figure and husband of exiled opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, along with other political prisoners. This followed a visit by US special envoy Keith Kellogg. Notably, Lukashenko is a key ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin.