U.S. State Department: “Unjust detention… “Efforts to release the highest priority will continue.”
The U.S. government announced on the 5th (local time) that Russia rejected a “substantial offer” to release two U.S. citizens, including a Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reporter.
The Guardian and others reported that U.S. State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said at a briefing that day that Russia had rejected a new proposal to release WSJ reporter Evan Gersikovich and former Marine Paul Whelan, who are being held in Russia.
“The United States has made several proposals in recent weeks to bring the two men, including a ‘substantial offer,’ which Russia has rejected,” he said.
It was not specified in detail what the proposal was.
The U.S. State Department has designated Russia’s detention of these people as ‘unjust detention’ and is making efforts to release them.
“These people should never have been arrested in the first place,” Miller said. “Both of them should be released immediately,” he emphasized. He continued, “There is nothing more important to the Secretary of State. “There is nothing more important to the (US) president,” he said, adding that President Joe Biden and Secretary of State Tony Blinken will continue to make release efforts a top priority.
WSJ’s Moscow correspondent, Gershkovic, was arrested by Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) on charges of espionage while reporting in Yekaterinburg, a city in central Russia, on March 29. Russia claims to have collected confidential national information on corporate activities within the military-industrial complex, but the United States denies this. Reporter Gersikovich’s detention period was extended three times until January 30 of next year.
Wheelen is a former U.S. Marine and businessman who was arrested in Moscow in 2018 on espionage charges. He was sentenced to 16 years in prison in June 2020 and is currently serving his sentence.
In February of last year, after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, U.S. Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) star Brittney Greiner was also arrested at the Moscow airport on charges of attempting to smuggle drugs, and in December of that year, a Russian weapon called the “Merchant of Death” was detained in the U.S. He was released in exchange for trader Victor Butt.
Source: Donga
Mark Jones is a world traveler and journalist for News Rebeat. With a curious mind and a love of adventure, Mark brings a unique perspective to the latest global events and provides in-depth and thought-provoking coverage of the world at large.