US President Joe Biden described the arrest of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich in Russia as “completely illegal”.
“We make it clear that what happened is completely illegal,” Biden promised at a press conference, promising to contact the American’s relatives shortly.
The politician recalled that the State Department had previously recognized Gershkovich as “illegally held.” According to the politician, this decision was designed to “change the dynamics” of the situation.
illegally held
Recall, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken announced on April 10 that he had assigned Gershkovich the status of an “illegally held” person. The next day, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s press secretary, Dmitry Peskov, expressed his surprise at this fact, stating that he did not understand the meaning of the new status. The Kremlin spokesman added that the United States, in its view, “must defend the rights of its citizens in any case”.
“To be honest, I don’t understand what innovations this new regime has brought here, I don’t know what it means,” Peskov said.
“The United States can and must protect the rights of its citizen caught red-handed and violating the relevant laws of the Russian Federation. This is suspected,” the spokesperson said, pointing out that the final decision would be made by the court anyway.
The status of an “illegally held” person automatically transferred the journalist’s case to the jurisdiction of the US President’s Special Representative for Hostage Affairs. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs also received additional powers to exert pressure on the Russian Federation. Now the ministry can “form diplomatic coalitions”, “increase the pressure on the press” and demand regular consular access.
no connection
Vedant Patel, Deputy First Spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said that the United States received an official notification from Russia on April 10 that Gershkovich was arrested, but that he had not yet been given consular access. According to Patel, this violates international norms in the field of consular relations.
“As far as I know,[the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation]filed a notice of detention last weekend, but they have not yet granted consular access,” the State Department said.
“Creative USA”
The Wall Street Journal, citing an earlier White House source WroteThat the United States is ready to be “creative” for the sake of Gershkovich’s release.
The publication noted that the long-running negotiations for the release of Paul Whelan, accused of espionage, “reached a stalemate”, as Russia “demands something that the United States cannot do” – the release of Russian intelligence officer Vadim Krasikov.
A senior White House official told the WSJ that Washington is open to “creative solutions” on both Whelan and Hershkovich.
“In any case, the challenge is to select and release candidates from the Russian side who are worthy enough for Moscow and at the same time acceptable enough for Washington,” the newspaper writes.
arrest in the Urals
On March 30, it was learned that FSB officers detained Gershkovich in Yekaterinburg, accusing him of collecting classified data on one of the Russian defense organizations, allegedly at the direction of the US government. A criminal case was opened on espionage (Article 276 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation).
The Lefortovo Court in Moscow detained Gershkovich for two months. The American faces up to 20 years in prison.
US officials reminded the situation of Whelan and Trevor Reed, who were convicted in the Russian Federation, and urged the citizens of the country to refrain from traveling to Russia. The WSJ demanded the immediate release of its staff. The Secretary General of the Council of Europe Maria Pejcinovic-Buric, the head of EU diplomacy Josep Borrell and the UN Secretary General António Guterres condemned the arrest of the American.
On April 2, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov phoned to discuss the journalist’s arrest. The meeting took place on the initiative of the American side. The Russian minister noted that Gershkovich was caught red-handed while trying to obtain classified information. No swap agreements were reached.