Russia in talks with U.S. on prisoner swap that could include jailed reporter Gershkovich
MOSCOW — Russian President Vladimir Putin said Thursday that Moscow is in talks with the U.S. on the issue of releasing jailed Americans Paul Whelan and Evan Gershkovich, with the Kremlin hoping to “find a solution” even though “it’s not easy.”
Putin spoke about Whelan and Gershkovich during his year-end news conference in response to a question about a recent offer the Biden administration made to secure the two men’s release. The U.S. State Department reported it earlier this month, without offering details and said Russia had rejected it.
Putin said that Moscow was not refusing to free the two Americans, but also added: “Why would they commit offenses on Russian soil?”
“We have contacts on this matter with our American partners; there’s a dialogue on this issue. It’s not easy, I won’t go into details right now. But in general, it seems to me that we’re speaking a language each of us understands,” Puptin said. “I hope we will find a solution. But, I repeat, the American side must hear us and make a decision that will satisfy the Russian side as well.”
Whelan, a corporate security executive from Michigan, has been jailed in Russia since his December 2018 arrest on espionage-related charges that he and the U.S. government dispute. He was sentenced to 16 years in prison.
Gershkovich, a Wall Street Journal reporter, was detained in March while on a reporting trip to the Russian city of Yekaterinburg, about 1,200 miles east of Moscow. Russia’s Federal Security Service alleged that Gershkovich, “acting on the instructions of the American side, collected information constituting a state secret about the activities of one of the enterprises of the Russian military-industrial complex.” He has been behind bars ever since.
Vladimir Putin aims to prolong his repressive grip on Russia for at least six more years through a presidential election he is all but certain to win.
The Lefortovo District Court in Moscow on Nov. 28 ordered his detention extended till the end of January, and the appeal Gershkovich has filed against that ruling was rejected by the Moscow City Court at a hearing Thursday.
Gershkovich and the Wall Street Journal deny the allegations, and the U.S. government has declared him to be wrongfully detained. Russian authorities haven’t detailed any evidence to support the espionage charges.
Gershkovich is the first American reporter to be charged with espionage in Russia since 1986, when Nicholas Daniloff, a Moscow correspondent for U.S. News and World Report, was arrested by the KGB. Gershkovich is being held at Moscow’s Lefortovo prison, notorious for its harsh conditions.
Analysts have said that Moscow may be using jailed Americans as bargaining chips after U.S.-Russia tensions soared when Russia sent troops into Ukraine. At least two U.S. citizens arrested in Russia in recent years — including WNBA star Brittney Griner — have been exchanged for Russians jailed in the U.S.
Russian President Vladimir Putin continues to vow that there will be no peace in Ukraine until his goals, which remain unchanged, are achieved.
The Russian Foreign Ministry has said it would consider a swap for Gershkovich only after a verdict in his trial. In Russia, espionage trials can last for more than a year.
Lynne Tracy, the U.S. ambassador to Russia, attended the court hearing for Gershkovich’s appeal Thursday and told reporters that “Evan’s ordeal has now stretched on for over 250 days. His life has been put on hold for over eight months for a crime he didn’t commit.
“Although Evan appeared as sharp and focused as ever today in the courtroom, it is not acceptable that Russian authorities have chosen to use him as a political pawn,” Tracy said after the hearing.
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