Alexander Lukashenko struck a deal with an envoy of Donald Trump that led U.S. diplomacy to use the prospect of easing potash sanctions and secure the release of 123 opposition figures, including Maria Kolesnikova and Ales Bialiatski.Among those freed was Japanese national Masatoshi Nakanishi, who was handed to the Japanese embassy in Lithuania and has already left Belarus, and Maria Kolesnikova — in a commentary by Anna-Lena Laurén in "Dagens Nyheter" — thanked Donald Trump as she crossed into Ukraine.The arrangement has drawn reactions from Russia and raised questions about how far sanctions relief will go, with critics saying the EU was passive while more than 1,200 political prisoners remain, including Eduard Babaryka.