On Tuesday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that there has been contact between the U.S. and Russia regarding a possible prisoner swap involving Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich and Paul Whelan, both of whom are considered "wrongfully detained." The same day, the U.S. ambassador to Russia met with Gershkovich in Moscow, and Peskov said that any discussions about a prisoner swap must be kept in complete silence. It is unclear if the two countries have made any progress in their negotiations.
Posts tagged as “Moscow”
Key takeaways: Russian air defenses thwarted a Ukrainian drone attack on Moscow, prompting authorities to briefly close one of the city’s international airports. Ukraine’s top…
U.S. Ambassador to Russia Lynne Tracy visited American Evan Gershkovich, a Wall Street Journal reporter arrested in March on espionage charges, in a Moscow prison on Monday. She reported that Gershkovich is in good health and remains strong, and the Biden administration is advocating for his release and calling for continued consular access. The U.S. Embassy is providing all necessary support to Gershkovich and his family.
Key takeaways: President Putin praised the Russian military and law enforcement officers for preventing an all out “civil war” and averting further violence and civilian…
Russian President Vladimir Putin addressed the nation for the first time since a short-lived armed revolt by the Wagner mercenary group on Saturday. The revolt was led by Yevgeny Prigozhin and focused on Russia's military brass, and President Joe Biden said the US and its allies had strongly communicated to the Kremlin that they were not involved. Putin thanked the Russian people for their support and did not offer any clarity about his planned response to the revolt, which posed the biggest challenge to his rule in more than 20 years.
President Biden and U.S. allies have coordinated a response to the brief uprising in Russia led by the Wagner mercenary group, making clear that they were not involved. The Wagner fighters had seized control of a Russian military headquarters in Rostov-on-Don, but were ordered back to their camps when a truce was announced. Yevgeny Prigozhin, the Wagner group's leader, has not yet been seen to retreat into obscurity, and the consequences of the incident remain to be seen.
On Monday, the ruble reached a 14-month low after an aborted weekend mutiny in Russia led by Yevgeny Prigozhin, the chief of Russia's Wagner mercenary group. The rebellion was ended after the Kremlin made an agreement to send Prigozhin to Belarus, and pardon him and his soldiers, brokered by Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko. Former U.S. director of national intelligence James Clapper said the deal appears "fishy," raising concerns about stability in the nuclear-armed country.
A former US ambassador to Russia has commented that the recent rebellion of the Wagner Group, a Russian mercenary army, has given the appearance of weakness to Russian President Vladimir Putin. The rebellion has caused a stir in the international community and has cast doubt on the strength of Putin's hold on power, with some praising the group for standing up to Putin's regime and others expressing concern that it could lead to further instability in the region. It remains to be seen how Putin will respond to the challenge posed by the Wagner Group.