US President Joe Biden has confirmed that three US citizens and a US green card holder, previously imprisoned in Russia, are finally returning home. Those released are former US Marine Paul Whelan, a journalist at the wall street journal Evan Gershkovich, Radio Liberty journalist Alsou Kurmasheva and Russian dissident Vladimir Kara-Murza. “A significant diplomatic undertaking,” is how the US president called the historic exchange of prisoners – 26 in total – from seven different countries: the United States, Germany, Poland, Slovenia, Norway, Russia and Belarus. The prisoners, Biden said at a press conference, “have been held unjustly for years. They have all endured unimaginable suffering and uncertainty. Today, their agony is over.”
In his speech, Biden expressed gratitude to the many allies who worked on the “complex” negotiations, and mentioned Germany, Poland, Slovenia, Norway and Turkey. The exchange, the US president observed in a memo, “is a vivid example of why it is essential to have friends in this world whom we can trust and rely on. Our alliances make Americans safer.” Pressed by a reporter on what he would say to former President Donald Trump, who claimed he could negotiate the release of prisoners without giving up anything, Biden replied: “Why didn’t he do that when he was president?” However, when asked if he had spoken to the Russian president, he replied: “I don’t need to talk to Vladimir Putin.” The Kremlin has yet to comment. While National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan added to reporters: “Not since the Cold War have there been so many individuals exchanged in this way and there has never been, to our knowledge, a single exchange involving so many countries, so many close partners and allies of the United States working together.
Prisoners released
In recent hours, the Turkish presidency also confirmed that the exchange had taken place in Ankara and revealed that the detainees involved came from the United States, Germany, Poland, Slovenia, Norway, Russia and Belarus. A total of ten people, including two minors, were transferred to Russia, thirteen to Germany and three to the United States. Among those released are German citizen Rico Krieger, previously imprisoned in Belarus, and Russian opposition figure Ilya Yashin. In addition, the release of Vadim Krasikov, a former alleged Russian agent detained in Germany for the murder of a former Chechen commander in Berlin, was confirmed.
Read also:
