Putin says Russia is in dialogue with the US on exchanging jailed Americans Gershkovich and Whelan
Associated PressMOSCOW — Russian President Vladimir Putin said Thursday Moscow is in dialogue with with the United States on the issue of bringing home jailed Americans Paul Whelan and Evan Gershkovich and the Kremlin hopes to “find a solution,” even though “it’s not easy.” Putin spoke about Whelan and Gershkovich during his year-end news conference in response to a question about a recent offer the Biden administration made to secure the two men’s release. “But, I repeat, the American side must hear us and make a decision that will satisfy the Russian side as well.” Speaking to reporters in Washington, U.S. State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said the U.S. has “put multiple offers on the table,” including “one significant offer that we made as recently as a few weeks ago.” “We have seen those offers rejected every time by the Russian government,” he said. Miller said Washington would welcome Russia engaging seriously in talks that would lead to the release of Gershkovich and Whelan but that “so far we’ve seen them refuse to take us up on our proposals, and we hope that they will change the way they handle this going forward.” Whelan, a corporate security executive from Michigan, has been jailed in Russia since his December 2018 arrest on espionage-related charges that both he and the U.S. government dispute. He was accused of espionage — Russia’s Federal Security Service alleged that the reporter, “acting on the instructions of the American side, collected information constituting a state secret about the activities of one of the enterprises of the Russian military-industrial complex.” He has been behind bars ever since.