Russia says there is still no agreement in negotiations with the US for prisoner exchange

First modification: 07/28/2022 – 16:22

This Thursday, July 28, Russia responded to the statements made on Wednesday by Anthony Blinken, where he stressed the existence of a “substantial offer on the table” regarding the possibility of achieving an exchange of prisoners between countries.

At a press conference, the Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, María Zakharova, confirmed that there are negotiations for the release of detainees that date back to February of this year, but have not yet reached an agreement.

“The issue of mutual exchange was discussed at one point. Instructions were given to the relevant authorized structures to carry out negotiations, they are being carried out by the competent departments, but no concrete result was achieved”, he expressed.

The talks would have to equally consider the interests of both parties, he warned.

The negotiations are linked to the situation of the United States women’s basketball star, Brittney Griner, and former Marine Paul Whelan, for whom Washington “is willing to take extraordinary measures to bring them home,” said John Kirby, a spokesman for White House national security.

However, Blinken’s public statements were criticized by Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov. “When such topics are discussed, leaks to the press are not allowed. The agreements already reached are usually made known, ”he said.

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In addition, regarding the statements made by the Secretary of State of the North American country that he would speak with his Russian counterpart, Serguei Lavrov, Peskov clarified that, “beyond what the press says”, they have not received a formal request, reaffirming that Moscow is guided by “usual diplomatic practices, not public address”.

If a contact between the diplomatic chiefs materializes, it will be the first to take place since the Russian invasion of Ukraine was unleashed last February.

Both will coincide in Phnom Penh, when they attend the Regional Forum of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations that will take place in Cambodia between August 4 and 5.

Washington’s proposal

As revealed by , the offer that the White House would have proposed to Russia includes the release of Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout in exchange for Griner and Whelan, something that has not yet been confirmed by the departments of both nations.

“Our governments have communicated repeatedly and directly about that proposal, and I will use the conversation to personally follow up on it and hopefully towards a resolution,” Blinken said Wednesday.

“We think it’s important that the American people know how hard President Biden is working to get Brittney Griner and Paul Whelan home,” Kirby added yesterday.

Griner was charged with drug possession and smuggling last February, when she was arrested at the Moscow-Sheremetyevo International Airport after cannabis oil was found in her luggage.

On Wednesday, at a court hearing in the Russian capital, the double Olympic champion admitted the presence of the substance among her belongings, but denounced irregularities in her arrest. The next appointment will be August 2.

Whelan, the other US government target, is a former Marine who was arrested by Federal Security Service agents in 2018 and sentenced to 16 years in prison for “espionage activities.”

In exchange for the freedom of Griner and Whelan, the proposal includes the surrender of Bout, an arms dealer who must serve 25 years in prison in the United States for conspiring to assassinate local citizens and sell supplies to the FARC, a former Colombian guerrilla organization.

There is a recent precedent between Washington and Moscow in the prisoner exchange camp, when the Eurasian giant handed over the student and former Marine Trevor Reed – sentenced to nine years for resisting arrest – for Konstantin Yaroshenko, a pilot sentenced to 20 years for smuggle drugs.

With Reuters and EFE