GSecretary of State Anthony Blinken discussed Whelan’s exchange with Minister Sergey Lavrov The Secretary of State mentioned Washington’s proposal, which Moscow, according to him, should accept
Paul Whelan
US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, in a conversation with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, raised the issue of the exchange of convicted American Paul Whelan.
“The United States has made a serious proposal. Moscow should accept it,” Blinken said (quoted by CNN).
According to the Secretary of State, he also called on Russia to return to the Agreement on Measures for Further Reduction and Limitation of Strategic Offensive Arms, in which Moscow suspended its participation at the end of February. He called the decision of the Russian side irresponsible. “I told the Foreign Minister: no matter what happens in the world or in our relations, the United States will always be ready to cooperate in the field of strategic arms control, as it did at the height of the Cold War,” the head of the State Department noted.
Lavrov and Blinken talked “on the go” during a session of the G20 foreign ministers’ meeting in New Delhi, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said earlier.
Whelan was detained in Moscow in December 2018. He was charged under Article 276 of the Criminal Code (espionage). According to investigators, Whelan worked for American intelligence agencies, collected secret information in Russia and tried to recruit FSB and Defense Ministry employees. In the summer of 2020, he was sentenced to 16 years. The US is seeking Whelan’s exchange.
Moscow and Washington exchanged prisoners last December. Basketball player Brittney Griner, convicted in Russia for nine years for drug smuggling, returned to the United States, and Viktor Booth, who served a 25-year sentence for illegal arms trafficking and support of terrorism in the United States, returned to Russia.
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