NYT: US and Russia discussing prisoner swap

An American official confirmed in a conversation with a journalist of The New York Times that the United States and Russia are negotiating an exchange of prisoners, including Evan Gershkovich, reporter of The Wall Street Journal newspaper. Four days ago, Dmitry Peskov, Spokesman for the Russian president, said that Moscow was still in contact with the United States over the prisoner exchange. He did not name the names of those potentially to be swapped.

According to The New York Times source, no final decision on the exchange is in sight. This was confirmed by US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan, who called for caution in discussing this issue so as not to give false hopes. He acknowledged that discussions on this issue are ongoing.

Evan Gershkovich was detained on March 30 in Yekaterinburg, the next day he was arrested for two months on charges of espionage (Article 276 of the Russian Criminal Code). On June 22, the Moscow City Court extended the journalist's arrest for another two months. He will remain in custody until 30 August.