Washington says there is no “higher priority” than Ivan Grishkovich and Paul Whelan’s efforts to break free from Russia.
The U.S. said Moscow rejected what it said was a “special” offer to secure the freedom of Wall Street Journal correspondent Ivan Grishkovich and former U.S. Marine Paul Whelan, who are jailed in Russia on espionage charges. .
US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller told reporters on Tuesday that “we have made a number of proposals, including an important one in recent weeks.”
“The proposal was rejected by Russia,” he said, without going into further detail on the offer.
Miller said Secretary of State Anthony Blanken and President Joe Biden will continue to try to find a way to free the couple, considered “wrongfully detained” by the State Department.
The designation means the United States considers the allegations against the two men to be false and politically motivated.
“They should never have been arrested. They should be released immediately,” Miller said.
“There is no previous high priority for the Secretary of State. There is no higher priority for the president.
The United States, despite a sharp deterioration in relations since Russia launched an all-out invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, arranged a prisoner swap with Moscow a year ago that included basketball star Brittany Greiner in exchange for Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout. brought
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in July that it was in contact with the United States about a prisoner exchange but that such talks should be held in “complete silence.”
Gershkovich was arrested during a reporting trip in late March and charged with espionage, which he and the Wall Street Journal denied.
The 32-year-old has been detained pending trial and a Moscow court last week extended his detention until January. He faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted.
Gershkovich’s sister in October urged the Biden administration to focus on efforts to bring him home from a Russian prison, and expressed concern that the Middle East crisis could distract Washington from hostage diplomacy in other countries.
Whelan worked in security for an American auto parts company when he was arrested in Moscow in 2018. The former Marine was convicted of espionage in 2020 and jailed for 16 years. Whalen says the evidence against him was false and that he and the US government have denied he was a spy.
Whelan’s family said last week that he had been assaulted in prison.
The 53-year-old was punched in the face and forced to defend himself at a sewing workshop in a high-security pen colony in Russia’s Mordovia region, southeast of Moscow, his brother said in a statement.
The Mordovia Regional Prison Service confirmed the attack to Interfax news agency and that guards had intervened. Both men were taken to the medical bay with Willen pulling under one of his eyes.