Russia’s foreign ministry confirmed on Thursday that prisoner swap talks between Russia and the United States are underway, but said “no agreement has yet been reached” after Washington announced a “significant offer” to Moscow.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said in a statement that the talks “are being conducted by the relevant authorities and no practical results have been achieved so far.”
He added that US Presidents Joe Biden and Vladimir Putin have ordered talks on the exchange of prisoners and explained that this issue has been raised continuously since their June 2021 summit in Geneva.
And U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said Wednesday that he would speak with his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, in the coming days to discuss a U.S. offer to guarantee the Americans’ freedom in Moscow.
“My intention is to raise an issue that is a priority for us, the release of Paul Whelan and Brittany Greiner, who have been wrongfully detained, and should be allowed to return to their country,” Blinken said.
He added: “We made a proposal weeks ago to facilitate the release of American detainees and noted that our government has repeatedly and directly talked about this proposal and I will personally use this conversation to follow up.”
And the US media reported that “the issue may be related to the exchange of two American prisoners for Viktor But, a Russian arms smuggler who has been sentenced to 25 years in prison in the United States.”
Source: Lebanon Debate
