For years, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko was treated in Washington as untouchable, an authoritarian ruler sustained by Moscow whose territory helped launch Russia ’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine . U.S. policy rested on isolation: Sanctions, a diplomatic freeze, and support for the Belarusian opposition. That consensus is now shifting. In recent weeks, the Trump administration has signaled a thaw, sending a special envoy to Minsk, easing select sanctions, and raising the prospect of a