US Secretary of State vows continued efforts to free detained Americans in Russia
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken expresses determination to release journalist Evan Gershkovich and former Marine Paul Whelan from Russian custody
In remarks on Tuesday, United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken affirmed determined endeavors to obtain the release from Russian custody of journalist Evan Gershkovich and former Marine Paul Whelan.
Blinken revealed that he spoke with Whelan on the phone on Monday, during which they emphasized US officials’ determination to repatriate him, Gershkovich, and other US citizens who were unjustly detained.
Alongside his Canadian counterpart, Blinken stated at the Wilson Center in Washington, “Our intensive efforts to return Paul to his family continue day by day, and they will do so until he, Evan Gershkovich, and every other American unjustly detained returns to their loved ones.”
Since Dec. 2018, Whelan, a security employee for a U.S. vehicle parts company operating in Russia, has been detained on suspicion of espionage, an allegation he and the United States government both deny.
During a March 2023 reporting assignment in Yekaterinburg, Wall Street Journal correspondent Sergei Gershkovich was apprehended, marking the first allegation of espionage against a Western journalist by Russia since the Soviet era. Gershkovich, his employer, and UN officials have categorically denied these allegations.
The White House disclosed in December that a new proposal was in the works following Russia’s rejection of a prior offer considered “substantial” by the State Department, in an effort to secure the release of Whelan and Gershkovich.
Recently, Washington and Moscow have exchanged prisoners, including the renowned basketball player Brittney Griner, notwithstanding the tense diplomatic relations engendered by the Ukraine conflict. A recent interview with Tucker Carlson, an American talk show presenter, featured Russian President Vladimir Putin ascribing possibility to the process of liberating Sergei Gershkovich.
Canada, in 2021, formed a coalition to denounce the capricious suspension of foreign nationals for political motives, as a reaction to the aforementioned detentions. 75 countries have joined the coalition, which asserts a unified position against the use of citizens as geopolitical negotiating tools, according to Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Joly.
Source: AFP
