OREANDA-NEWS Minsk is ready to make a big deal on "hostages" with Washington. The corresponding proposal was conveyed to US President Donald Trump by his Belarusian counterpart Alexander Lukashenko, his words were published by the Telegram channel Pool One.

"His is very concerned, as he said, about the issues of hostages and political prisoners. I don't mind, let's discuss this topic globally. If Donald insists that he is ready to take in the freed, let's try to work out a global deal, as Mr. Trump likes. A big deal, that's what he calls it," the politician said.

He noted that Minsk is not interested in keeping a number of prisoners of interest to the American side in custody. At the same time, Lukashenko stressed that these people were not convicted under political articles, as there are no such articles in the Criminal Code of Belarus.

Earlier, the US Deputy Special Envoy for Ukraine, John Cole, handed Lukashenko a letter from Trump. In his message, the American leader, in particular, congratulated his Belarusian counterpart on his birthday.