The U.S. special envoy for Belarus said he hopes to secure the release of hundreds more prisoners from Belarus next month and that he will go there in person to finalize the agreement.

John Cole, in an interview with the Russian section of Voice of America, said: “Within the next two weeks I plan to go back to Belarus and hope to secure the release of more political prisoners. I think I will succeed.”

He announced his goal of handing over prisoners in mid-September and added that his diplomacy in advance persuaded Belarus to release up to 800 political prisoners in exchange for the easing of some U.S. sanctions against Minsk.

The special envoy for the United States said: “I hope soon to raise this figure to a thousand.”