(Moscow) Russia announced on Wednesday that it was awaiting a response from the United States to its “ideas” for an exchange of prisoners, comments coming one week before the start of the trial for “espionage” of American journalist Evan Gershkovich, incarcerated for 15 months .
The reporter is due to be tried in Yekaterinburg on June 26. Moscow had already admitted to negotiating an exchange that would allow the release of the 32-year-old, whom it claims is a CIA spy, something that Washington, the journalist’s relatives and his employer, the daily newspaper The Wall Street Journal, reject, stressing that he was arrested in the middle of a reporting assignment.
Questioned by the Russian state news agency, Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov revealed for the first time that Russia had made a proposal to Washington, but he did not want to provide further details. .
“The ball is in the court of the United States and we expect them to respond to the ideas presented to them,” said Sergei Ryabkov, ensuring that the American authorities were fully informed.
“I understand that there may be something in these ideas that does not sit well with Americans. That’s their problem. We believe that our approach is fully justified, sensible and balanced,” the diplomat insisted.
Washington is seeking the release of Evan Gershkovich, a Wall Street Journal journalist who worked at the AFP bureau in Moscow and who risks 20 years in prison for having, according to the prosecution, collected information on Uralvagonzavod on behalf of the CIA , one of Russia’s largest arms manufacturers.
Uralvagonzavod is one of Russia’s largest arms manufacturers, producing, among other things, T-90 battle tanks used in Ukraine and the new generation Armata tank, as well as freight wagons.
The relatives, employer and country of the journalist, arrested in the middle of reporting in March 2023 in Yekaterinburg, reject these accusations which Moscow has never substantiated, the entire file having been classified secret.
Mr. Gershkovich had been working in Russia for years and was duly accredited to the Russian Foreign Ministry.
Russian President Vladimir Putin had already acknowledged that negotiations were underway for an exchange of prisoners and implied to aim for the release of Vadim Krassikov, sentenced to life in prison in Germany for having murdered in Berlin in 2019, for the account of Russian special services, a former commander of the Chechen war.
Efforts for such an agreement could, however, have taken a more complicated turn since the death in February in prison of Russian opponent Alexeï Navalny who, according to his entourage, was also part of an exchange project currently being negotiated.
Russia holds several Americans in these prisons, including Paul Whelan, a former U.S. soldier who was arrested in 2018 and later sentenced to 16 years in prison for espionage. Washington, Mr. Whelan and his family deny the accusations.
Russia is also holding Russian-American journalist Alsu Kurmasheva, arrested in Russia in October 2023 during a private trip. She is accused of failing to register as a “foreign agent” and of discrediting the Russian army and its offensive in Ukraine.
On Wednesday, an American soldier was sentenced in Russia to three years and nine months in prison for death threats and theft against his Russian girlfriend.
The United States and Russia have carried out several prisoner exchanges in the past, despite deteriorated relations, particularly since Vladimir Putin launched his assault on Ukraine.
Thus, Brittney Griner, American basketball star imprisoned in Russia for several months for a cannabis affair, was exchanged in December 2022 for Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout, detained for ten years in the United States.
