French President Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday invited Belarus opposition leader Svetlana Tikhanovskaya to address his country’s parliament, following a meeting with her during his Lithunai visit.

Tikhanovskaya said Macron promised her to help negotiate with the Belarus authorities and secure the release of the political prisoners.

“He promised us to do everything to help with negotiations, (during) this political crisis in our country … and he will do everything to help to release all the political prisoners”, Tsikhanouskaya told reporters in English after the meeting in Vilnius.

Also see: We come in peace: Belarusian women dressed in white protest against corrupt leadership

Highest-profile meeting yet

It was Tikhanovskaya’s most high-profile meeting with an international leader since the elections on August 9 and the protests which she has helped inspire.

She has previously met with leaders in neighbouring Poland and Lithuania, which have taken a lead in European diplomacy on Belarus, and with EU foreign ministers in Brussels.

The EU is considering personal sanctions against Lukashenko and other high-profile figures seen as responsible for the violent crackdown.

On Monday, on his first day in Vilnius, where Tsikhanouskaya fled into exile, Macron urged Belarus authorities to stop unlawful arrests, release protesters detained arbitrarily and respect election results.

He had urged Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko to go on Sunday, hardening his stance as tens of thousands marched in Belarus for a seventh straight weekend to demand Lukashenko quit.