Aleksandr G. Lukashenko, Belarus’s autocratic president and Russia’s closest ally, has taken steps to soften his country’s isolation from the West.

Andrey Kuznechyk, a journalist with Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, was one of those released from a Belarusian prison after more than three years. The released American has not been named publicly.

Belarusian journalist Andrei Kuznechyk and an unnamed American citizen were among the three prisoners released in Belarus on Wednesday, according to officials. Kuznechyk, who U.S. officials had dubbed a political prisoner,