Peskov: discussing the exchange of prisoners between the Russian Federation and the United States is possible only in silence

Negotiations between Russia and the United States on the exchange of prisoners require silence, there is no need for a public discussion of this issue. This statement was made by the press secretary of the President of the Russian Federation Dmitry Peskov, transmits TASS.

“We do not talk about this and we urge everyone to be silent on this topic. Such cases can only be discussed in silence,” he said, answering a question from journalists about the possibility of progress on this issue by the end of 2022.

Earlier, the Russian authorities have repeatedly said that negotiations on the exchange of prisoners between Russia and the United States are being conducted through the channels of the special services of the two countries. The Kremlin had previously refused to comment on the course of the talks. According to Peskov, “a public exchange of positions will not lead to a result.”

The American authorities, in turn, noted that the United States made an exchange offer to Russia and urged Moscow to accept it. At the White House spokethat US President Joe Biden expressed his readiness to take emergency measures in order to return Americans convicted in Russia to their homeland.

November 29 at the Russian Foreign Ministry admittedthat the exchange of prisoners between the Russian Federation and the United States would be a positive signal. According to Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov, this would confirm that “not everything is hopeless” in Russian-American relations.

In August, it became known that Washington sent Moscow an offer to exchange the Russian Viktor Bout for the Americans Brittney Griner and Paul Whelan. Later, the CNN channel reported that the Russian side demanded to exchange not only Bout, but also the former Russian intelligence officer Vadim Krasikov, who was convicted in Germany last year.

On August 4, the Khimki court sentenced basketball player Greiner to 9 years in prison for drug smuggling. Also, the basketball player must pay a fine of 1 million rubles. Whelan was arrested in Moscow at the end of 2018 on suspicion of espionage. He is currently serving a 16-year sentence. Bout was sentenced by a US court to 25 years in prison in 2012. He was found guilty on several counts, including being convicted of conspiracy to sell weapons.

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