Washington says ‘no higher priority’ than effort to safe launch from Russia of Evan Gershkovich and Paul Whelan.
The United States has mentioned Moscow rejected what it mentioned was a “substantial” proposal to safe the liberty of Wall Street Journal correspondent Evan Gershkovich and former US Marine Paul Whelan who’re jailed in Russia over alleged spying.
“We have made a number of proposals, including a substantial one in recent weeks,” US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller advised reporters on Tuesday.
“That proposal was rejected by Russia,” he mentioned, with out going into additional element on the supply.
Miller mentioned that Secretary of State Antony Blinken and President Joe Biden would hold looking for a method to free the pair, thought-about “wrongfully detained” by the State Department.
The designation means the US considers the costs towards the 2 males to be bogus and politically motivated.
“They never should have been arrested in the first place. They should be released immediately,” Miller mentioned.
“There is no prior higher priority for the secretary of state. There is no higher priority for the president.”
The United States, regardless of a pointy deterioration of ties since Russia started its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, organized a prisoner swap with Moscow a 12 months in the past that introduced residence basketball star Brittney Griner in alternate for jailed Russian arms supplier Viktor Bout.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov mentioned in July that it was involved with the US about prisoner swaps however that such discussions wanted to happen in “complete silence”.
Gershkovich was arrested throughout a reporting journey on the finish of March and accused of spying, prices he and the Wall Street Journal deny.
The 32-year-old has been held in custody pending trial and a Moscow court docket final week prolonged his detention till January. He faces so long as 20 years in jail if discovered responsible.
Gershkovich’s sister in October urged the Biden administration to stay centered on attempting to carry him residence from a Russian jail, and expressed concern that the Middle East disaster could distract Washington from hostage diplomacy in different international locations.
Whelan labored in safety for a US car elements firm when he was arrested in Moscow in 2018. The former Marine was convicted of espionage in 2020 and jailed for 16 years. Whelan says the proof towards him was falsified and he and the US authorities have denied he’s a spy.
Whelan’s household mentioned final week that he had been assaulted in jail.
The 53-year-old was punched within the face and compelled to defend himself at a stitching workshop in a high-security penal colony in Russia’s Mordovia area southeast of Moscow, his brother mentioned in a press release.
The Mordovia regional jail service confirmed the assault to the Interfax information company and that guards had intervened. Both males had been taken to the medical bay with Whelan struggling an abrasion beneath one in every of his eyes.
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/12/6/us-says-russia-rejected-substantial-proposal-to-free-two-jailed-americans?traffic_source=rss
