Russian Foreign Ministry: prisoner exchange with the US would be a positive signal

An exchange of prisoners between Russia and the United States would be a positive signal demonstrating that not everything is hopeless in relations between the two countries, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov told reporters.

“We do not conduct an appropriate dialogue as departments, therefore we do not fully feel the dynamics, I call a spade a spade. And in this regard, I would like to note that if this happened, it would undoubtedly send a positive signal that not everything is hopeless in Russian-American relations,” leads his words TASS.

The diplomat noted that such a signal would be appropriate even now. According to Ryabkov, in the issue of the exchange of prisoners, the United States “overkill” used “megaphone diplomacy”, which harmed the negotiations.

On August 4, the Khimki court found American basketball player Brittney Griner, who was detained in February, guilty of drug smuggling and sentenced to nine years in prison in a penal colony.

After 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.

In August, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov spokethat the Russian side is ready to discuss the issue of the exchange of prisoners with the United States, but only within the framework of a channel previously agreed upon at the highest level. In October, US President Joe Biden reiterated his readiness to discuss this issue.

Booth was sentenced by an American court to 25 years in prison. He was found guilty on several counts, including a conviction for conspiracy to sell weapons.

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