Russian President Vladimir Putin said Thursday he is interested in a prisoner swap for Wall Street Journal journalist Evan Gershkovich and Navy veteran Paul Whelan, but talks with the United States have not been “simple” – and the deal It must be done on its terms.
“We want to reach an agreement, and these agreements must be mutually acceptable and must satisfy both sides,” Putin said when asked about the two imprisoned Americans during a lengthy year-end news conference.
The Russian leader confirmed that his government had ongoing contacts with the United States on the issue.
“It’s not easy. I will not go into details now, but in general it seems to me that we speak a language that is understandable between us,” Putin added about the negotiations.
“I hope we find a solution. But, I repeat, the American side must listen to us and make an appropriate decision, which suits the Russian side.”
Putin spoke about Whelan and Gershkovich during his year-end news conference in response to a question about a recent bid to secure the two men’s release. POOL/AFP via Getty Images
Putin, 71, addressed the fate of the two American citizens on the same day that a Moscow court extended Gershkovich’s preventive detention for at least another six weeks, until January 30.
The reporter, detained since March 29, is the first American reporter accused of espionage in Russia since 1986. He faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted.
Gershkovich, his employer and the White House deny that he is a spy.
The WSJ said Thursday that while it “hoped” he would be arrested again, “it is important that we appeal these rulings to expose the absurd nature of the charge.
Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich was detained in March while on a reporting trip to Yekaterinburg and charged with espionage. AP
“Evan has been wrongfully detained for more than 250 days simply for doing his job as a journalist, and any description to the contrary is fiction.
“We will support Evan and his family for as long as necessary and continue to demand his immediate release.”
Whelan was convicted by a Russian court of spying on behalf of the United States in 2020 and sentenced to 16 years in a labor camp in Mordovia. Both the retired Marine and the Biden administration denied the allegation.
Last week, the State Department said Russia had recently rejected a substantial new offer for the release of Whelan and Gershkovich.
Gershkovich and the Journal deny the allegations, and the U.S. government has said he is being wrongfully detained. AFP via Getty Images
In late November, Whelan’s family said the 53-year-old had been violently attacked by another inmate while working in a sewing shop and needed medical attention.
A State Department spokesperson told Fox News Digital at the time that the agency was concerned about the incident and called on the Russian government to immediately release Whelan.
Whelan was arrested in December 2018 in the Moscow area after being accused of accepting a USB drive containing classified information.
He was left out of last year’s high-profile prisoner swap in which WNBA star Brittney Griner, who had been convicted on drug possession charges, was swapped for Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout.
Paul Whelan has been imprisoned in Russia since his arrest in December 2018 on espionage-related charges. REUTERS
Less than three months after Griner returned to the United States, Gershkovich was detained on suspicion of collecting classified information about a military plant while on a reporting trip to the remote Ural Mountains on behalf of the Wall Street Journal.
The Biden Administration believes that both Gershkovich and Whelan are unjustly detained.
Tracey Lynn, the US ambassador to Russia, previously accused the Kremlin of using Gershkovich as a “political pawn.”
With postal cables
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Source: vtt.edu.vn