President Donald Trump spoke with Belarus leader Alexander Lukashenko on Friday, just hours before his Alaska summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Calling the discussion “wonderful,” Trump thanked Lukashenko for releasing 16 political prisoners and explored a deal for freeing 1,

I had a wonderful talk with the highly respected President of Belarus, Aleksandr Lukashenko. The purpose of the call was to thank him for the release of 16 prisoners. We are also discussing the release of 1,

U.S. President Donald Trump spoke with Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko, who is a close ally of Vladimir Putin, by phone on Friday, Belarusian state news agency BELTA reported Friday. The call comes as Trump is set to meet Vladimir Putin in Alaska Friday.