MOSCOW: Belarus, a close Russian ally, pardoned 31 Ukrainian citizens, state TV said on Saturday, as part of an agreement between President Alexander Lukashenko and US counterpart Donald Trump.

Trump has pushed Belarus to free political prisoners in contacts with Lukashenko, who has ruled since 1994 and stamped out free media and political opposition.

In exchange, Washington has partly lifted sanctions on Belarus’s state carrier Belavia, allowing it to service and buy parts for its fleet, which includes Boeing aircraft.“The president has pardoned 31 Ukrainian citizens who committed criminal offenses on the territory of our country,” Lukashenko’s spokeswoman Natalia Eismont told state TV.

The pardon, which was requested by Ukraine, was a result of “the agreements reached between US President Donald Trump and President of the Republic of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko,” she said.The move was aimed at “creating conditions for the settlement of the armed conflict in the neighboring state,” the spokeswoman added, referring to the war in Ukraine.

The Ukrainians, who were not identified, are being handed over to Kyiv “right now,” according to Eismont.Belarus has typically charged people who oppose or criticize the government with “extremism,” meting out years-long prison sentences. It was not immediately clear what the freed Ukrainians had been charged with.

Earlier, Lukashenko had freed dozens of political prisoners, including prominent dissidents, journalists and clerics.There were more than 1,000 political prisoners still remaining in Belarusian prisons, according to rights groups.