America News Agency

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky made a statement regarding prison conditions in Russia and Belarus and the situation of political prisoners.

Sharing data on the number of detainees held by Russia, Zelensky said: “Around 7,000 Ukrainians are in Russian prisons. I do not think Russian prisons are different from Belarusian prisons. These are identical regimes fueled by hatred toward people. The only difference is that Belarusians are imprisoned in Belarus, while Ukrainians are imprisoned in Russia.”

He emphasized that Ukrainian prisoners are treated even more harshly, stating: “They treat Ukrainians more brutally than political prisoners who are citizens of other countries. Releasing people is not easy. Everything must be negotiated.”

Zelensky also highlighted Ukraine’s role in the release of Belarusian political prisoners: “As for Lukashenko, we can negotiate with the Americans. We are ready to help and have helped when the Americans conducted negotiations with Lukashenko; we provided our territory, transportation and medical care for the released Belarusian political prisoners. We allowed them to pass through our territory. We are ready to continue this and will provide any assistance we can to Belarusian prisoners.”