Russia still awaiting US response to the ideas for prisoner swaps

Days before its scheduled trial of US journalist Evan Gershkovich, Russia said on Wednesday that it has given its proposals for a prisoner swap to the US and was awaiting a reply.

Reporter for the Wall Street Journal Gershkovich was detained in March 2023 on suspicion of espionage; however, the White House, his company, and his family have all denied the allegations.

In February, President Vladimir Putin announced that discussions were underway to exchange the journalist for a prisoner; however, the Kremlin has not provided any updates on the status of the talks.

“The ball is in the court of the United States, we are waiting for them to respond to the ideas that were presented to them,” Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov told Russia’s state TASS news agency in an interview.

“They are well known to the relevant parts of the US administration. I understand that, perhaps, something in these ideas does not suit the Americans. That’s their problem,” he added.

“We consider our approaches to be fully justified, sensible, balanced. We expect that this is how they will view them.”

Gershkovich is set to face a closed door trial in the Urals city of Yekaterinburg on June 26 and could face up to 20 years in prison if found guilty.

– Bargaining chips –

Ryabkov’s comments came as a court in Russia’s far east jailed a US soldier for three years and nine months, allegedly for threatening to kill his girlfriend and stealing from her.

Gordon Black, 34, was arrested last month in the far eastern city of Vladivostok, where he was visiting a Russian woman he met and dated while serving in South Korea.

The woman, named by Russian media as Alexandra Vashuk, accused Black of stealing some 10,000 rubles ($120) from her and said she had been physically attacked.

Black pleaded “partially guilty” to theft and not guilty to threatening to kill Vashuk, Russian media reported.

His lawyer intends to appeal the verdict, the TASS news agency reported.

Washington has accused Moscow of arresting its citizens on baseless charges to use them as bargaining chips to secure the release of Russians convicted abroad.

The Kremlin has signalled it is open to a deal on exchanging some of them if its conditions are met.

But it has not revealed details. Putin has suggested a deal may involve the release of a Russian jailed in Germany for killing a Chechen dissident.

Among other US nationals detained in Russia is reporter Alsu Kurmasheva, a dual US-Russian national arrested last year for failing to register as a “foreign agent”. Her employers denounced the case against her as politically motivated.

Former US marine Paul Whelan, in prison in Russia since 2018 and serving a 16-year sentence on espionage charges, is also pushing to be included in any future exchange.