Russia sees the exchange of prisoners with the United States as a positive sign

The exchange of prisoners between Russia Y USA It would be a positive sign for relations between the two countries, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Riabkov said on Tuesday.

“If this were to take place, without a doubt it would be a positive sign that all is not lost in US-Russian relations. Perhaps this signal would now also be appropriate, if an agreement could be reached.”he told the media, according to the official TASS agency.

However, he admitted that “Now as institutions we do not carry out this dialogue, therefore we do not perceive this dynamic in its entirety, I tell things as they are.”

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Riabkov criticized the use by USA of “megaphone diplomacy” regarding the prisoner exchange situation.

“This did not help the cause”indicated.

According to the Russian diplomat, the matter lies in “how the corresponding structures, defined last year by both parties as responsible for this direction of work, manage to find a common denominator”.

USA seeks to trade American basketball player Brittney Grinersentenced in Russia for drug possession and smugglingand also American Paul Whelansentenced for espionage, by the “merchant of death”, the Russian Victor Butwho is serving 25 years in a US prison.

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RussiaFor his part, he proposed the inclusion of a second Russian prisoner in the exchange, the Chechen Vadim Krasikov.

American basketball player Brittney Griner is escorted by police before a hearing during her trial on drug smuggling charges, in Khimki, on the outskirts of Moscow, on August 2, 2022. (Photo: Natalia KOLESNIKOVA / AFP) (NATALIA KOLESNIKOVA/)

The situation of grinner and other American prisoners in Russia was discussed, according to Washington, in the meeting held last week in Ankara by the director of the CIA (the US intelligence agency), William Burns, and the head of the Russian Foreign Espionage Service, Sergei Narishkin.

Source: Elcomercio