Belarus has freed Syarhei Tsikhanouski, one of the country’s opposition leaders, in a deal brokered by US special envoy Keith Kellogg in Minsk.

In what is widely being seen as an attempt to build relations with the West, Mr Tsikhanouski was one of 14 Belarusian opposition figures freed from jail on Saturday after Mr Kellogg met president Alexander Lukashenko.

Ihar Karnei, a longtime Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty correspondent serving a three-year term on charges of extremism, and Allan Roio, an Estonian national who was detained last year after he established an NGO to raise funds for Belarusian refugees, were also freed.