President Biden said his administration is “serious” about doing a prisoner exchange for Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, who is being held in Russia.
Biden made the comments during a press briefing Thursday with Finnish President Sauli Niinisto in Helsinki. Gershkovich has been detained in Russia for more than 100 days and is one of many Americans the US says are wrongfully imprisoned in the country.
“I would be remiss if I didn’t raise my colleague, Evan Gershkovich, who has been in jail for over 100 days. I was just wondering if you had an update on the process for trying to get him out of prison and if you were serious about exchanging prisoner,” asked a WSJ reporter.
“I’m serious about a prisoner exchange,” Biden responded. “I’m serious about doing everything we can to free Americans who are being held illegally in Russia or anywhere else for that matter. That process is underway.”
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President Biden says his administration is “serious” about doing a prisoner exchange for the Wall St. reporter. Journalist Evan Gershkovich, imprisoned in Russia. (Getty Images)
Gershkovich, 31, was stationed in Russia for about 6 years before he was arrested on what the US called “bogus” charges in late March. US Ambassador to Russia Lynne Tracy was able to meet with the reporter for the first time in months on July 5.
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“Evan is in good health and remains stable despite the circumstances. We hope that the Russian authorities will grant regular consular access,” the US embassy in Russia tweeted soon after the meeting .
Gershkovich, 31, was stationed in Russia for about 6 years before he was arrested on what the US called “bogus” charges in late March. US ambassador to Russia Lynne Tracy met with a reporter for the first time in months on July 5. (Sefa Karacan/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
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The Kremlin acknowledged the possibility of a prisoner exchange with the US, but spokesman Dmitry Peskov declined to elaborate. Peskov was asked about a potential swap for Russian citizen Vladimir Dunaev, who is in US custody on cybercrime charges.
“We said that there are some contacts on the subject, but we don’t want them to be discussed publicly,” Peskov said of the discussions between Russian and US officials. “They must be carried out and carried on in complete silence.”
The Kremlin has acknowledged the possibility of a prisoner swap with the US, but spokesman Dmitry Peskov, pictured, refused to go into details. Peskov was asked about a potential swap for Russian citizen Vladimir Dunaev, who is in US custody on cybercrime charges. (REUTERS/Evgenia Novozhenina)
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The last prisoner exchange between the US and Russia was when the Biden administration secured the release of WNBA star Brittney Griner for Viktor Bout, a notorious arms dealer, in 2022.
Danielle Wallace of Fox News contributed to this report.
