The US State Department has said it wants to reach a deal with Russia to bring home two Americans, journalist Evan Gershkovich and businessman Paul Whelan, who are detained on espionage charges.
“We really want to reach an agreement. We really want to bring Evan Gershkovitch home. “We look forward to bringing Paul Whelan home,” said State Department spokesman Matthew Miller.
In his words, the United States has presented several proposals for discussion.
“On each occasion these proposals were rejected by the Russian government. So we will be happy if they negotiate in good faith,” Miller said. “We would be happy for you to work seriously with us to secure the release of Evan Gershkowitz and Paul Whelan.”
The announcements followed Russian President Vladimir Putin’s words that the Kremlin wanted to “negotiate” the return of Gershkovich, who has been in a Russian prison since March on espionage charges widely seen as politically motivated.
“It’s not that we refused to return them,” Putin said at a news conference Thursday, referring to Gershkovich and Whelan. “We do not refuse, we want to reach an agreement, and these agreements must be mutually acceptable and convenient for both parties.”