President Donald Trump has approved an early-stage proposal to ease some U.S. sanctions on Russia in exchange for the release of political prisoners, according to a report from The Atlantic.
According to the report, the plan was put forward several months ago by John Coale, a former Trump lawyer who has served as a special envoy focused on Eastern Europe and Belarus. Under the approach described in the report, Moscow would free some prisoners held for political reasons, and Washington would respond with targeted sanctions relief.
Officials could then pursue commercial talks involving Russian oil, diesel, rare earth minerals, and other commodities. The initiative remains preliminary, and no specific list of concessions or prisoners has been made public.
Coale developed a similar sequence in Belarus. Over more than a year of talks with President Alexander Lukashenko, the United States secured the release of hundreds of political prisoners. In return, Washington eased selected sanctions and opened discussions on a large purchase of Belarusian potash, a fertilizer used by American farmers.
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Trump announced last week that the United States was working on what he called a “massive” potash deal. Coale told The Atlantic that Russia is part of those talks because European restrictions would likely require the fertilizer to move through Russian territory.
Coale has framed the broader effort as a way to expand contact with Moscow beyond stalled ceasefire negotiations. “All this stuff works toward the possibility of peace,” he said. Coale has also argued that economic ties tend to produce more ordinary relations between governments.
As part of the effort, Coale has compiled a list of Americans held in Russian prisons and, while coordinating with Russian journalist and Nobel laureate Dmitry Muratov, a separate list of Russian political prisoners, journalists, and others convicted for opposing the war. Coale has said he would coordinate any such effort with Steve Witkoff, Trump’s principal envoy to the Kremlin.
Ukrainian officials have objected to any easing of sanctions on Russia while fighting continues. President Volodymyr Zelensky told The Atlantic he would try to “block” a lifting of restrictions before the war ends. In a recent speech to the United Nations General Assembly, he argued that additional trade revenue for Russia would give the conflict more time.
Belarusian opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya has separately warned that exchanging sanctions relief for prisoner releases can encourage authorities to detain more people.
The reported agreement comes as President Donald Trump continues to pursue a peace deal to end the Ukraine conflict after an August 2025 meeting in Alaska failed to produce an agreement. In mid-September, Trump also signed legislation expanding U.S. sanctions tools aimed at Russia’s energy and defense sectors.
Also this week, the White House nominated Coale as special presidential envoy for hostage affairs, a position that would carry ambassadorial rank and require Senate confirmation.
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[ H/T Trending Politics ]
