HELSINKI (AP) – US President Joe Biden said Thursday he is serious about a prisoner swap for a Wall Street Journal reporter who has been held in Russia for more than 100 days.
The Kremlin suggested earlier this month that it was open to a potential prisoner swap that could include Ivan Gershkovich, but it stressed that such talks should be kept out of the public eye.
Speaking at a news conference in Helsinki, Finland, Biden made it clear that the US is interested.
“I am serious about prisoner swaps,” said Biden, who was concluding a four-day trip to Europe that took him to the UK, Lithuania and Finland. “And I am serious about doing everything possible to free Americans illegally held in Russia or elsewhere, and that process is underway.”
Gershkovich was arrested on charges of espionage in the city of Yekaterinburg during a reporting trip. He is being held at Moscow’s Lefortovo prison, which is notorious for its harsh conditions. A Moscow court recently upheld a decision to keep him in custody until August 30.
Gershkovich and his employer have denied the allegations, and the US government has declared him wrongfully detained. His arrest created a stir among Russian journalists. Officials there have provided no evidence to support the espionage allegations.
US President Joe Biden attends a news conference on July 13, 2023 in Helsinki, Finland. (AP Photo/Sergey Grits)
White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan confirmed last week that “discussions” have taken place between the two sides, but he cautioned that there is yet “no clear path” to winning Gershkovich’s freedom.
Gershkovich is the first American reporter in Russia to face espionage charges since September 1986, when Nicholas Daniloff, the Moscow correspondent for US News and World Report, was arrested by the KGB. Daniloff was released 20 days later in exchange for an employee of the Soviet Union’s mission to the United Nations who had been arrested by the FBI on espionage charges.
