Russian President Vladimir Putin said Thursday that Moscow was in difficult talks with Washington about a prisoner swap involving WSJ reporter Evan Gershkovich and jailed ex-Marine Paul Whelan.There are contacts on this issue and dialogue is ongoing, but it's not straightforward, Putin said.I hope that we will find a solution.
But, I repeat, the American side must hear us and make an appropriate decision.
One that suits the Russian side as well, Putin said, responding to New York Times journalist Valerie Hopkins.Putin disputed Hopkins' characterization of Gershkovichs detention without trial and investigation, and poses a question of his own: Why dont they [Western journalists] stop committing offenses on Russian territory?This month, the United States said that Russia rejected a proposal to free Gershkovich and Whelan.We have made a number of proposals, including a substantial one in recent weeks, State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said.
"That proposal was rejected by Russia."On Thursday, a Moscow court upheld a ruling to hold Gershkovich, arrested in Russia earlier this year on espionage charges, in detention until Jan.
30.The 32-year-old Wall Street Journal correspondent in Moscow, his employer and the United States government have all rejected the spying allegations.Whelan was accused of spying after agents from Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) detained him in a Moscow hotel room on in December 2018.He was sentenced to 16 years in prison on espionage charges in 2020, and the United States has designated him wrongfully detained.