Washington DC - President Donald Trump spoke with Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko – a close ally of Vladimir Putin – by telephone on Friday, hours ahead of the US and Russian leaders' summit in Alaska.

Belarus has backed Putin's invasion of Ukraine and allowed Russia's army to use its territory as a launchpad for its first wave of attacks in early 2022.

"We discussed many topics, including President Putin's visit to Alaska," Trump said in a post on his Truth Social platform, which was sent while he was en route to the talks aboard Air Force One.

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Trump said that he had thanked Lukashenko for freeing political prisoners and said that the two sides were "discussing the release of 1,300 additional prisoners".

According to Belarus state news agency BELTA, "Lukashenko invited Trump and his family to visit Belarus, and he agreed."

The leaders also discussed bilateral relations and the war in Ukraine, BELTA added.

Lukashenko has ruled Belarus since 1994 and has stamped out free media and political opposition in an increasingly authoritarian rule.

According to a latest estimate by the Belarusian rights group Viasna, the country has 1,186 political prisoners.

Many of them were arrested following widespread protests that gripped the nation in 2020 after Lukashenko claimed victory in an election marred with allegations of fraud.

In late June, Lukashenko released more than a dozen political prisoners, amongst them top opposition figure Sergei Tikhanovsky, following an appeal from the White House.