US hostage envoy Roger Carstens said he agreed with the Kremlin that silence is essential when it comes to public discussion of the prisoner exchange.
“This may be the first time I can agree with the Russian side,” Carstens said in an interview. rosemary burton live Broadcast on Sunday. He explained that fact-checking every story that comes out about a possible prisoner exchange “could prove detrimental to getting the men home.”
The diplomat was referring to American journalist Evan Gershkovich, 32, and Ottawa-born American citizen Paul Whelan, 54, who are being held in a Russian penal colony on suspicion of espionage.
Mr. Gershkovych, a reporter for the Wall Street Journal, is currently spending a year in Moscow’s Lefortovo prison. Whelan, a former corporate security executive and U.S. Marine Corps veteran, was arrested in 2018 while in Moscow attending a friend’s wedding.
Gershkovic’s sister, Danielle Gershkovic, said: rosemary burton live She continues to exchange letters with Evan every week. “He’s still my little brother who teases me,” she said.
Diplomats see a silver lining
A Moscow court last week announced it would extend Gershkovych’s pre-trial detention for another three months, sparking an international backlash.
Carstens said he considered the extension a “positive” sign that the Russian side may want to abandon the deal within the next 90 days. “I’m hopeful that Evan can accomplish something before he actually starts the trial,” he said.
The extension will give his negotiating team “more time and space to find a way to reach an agreement that Russia can agree to and that the United States can deliver.”
“When you start negotiating in public, you don’t really make much progress,” said Roger Carstens, the U.S. special envoy for hostage affairs, who is marking one year since Russia’s capture of American journalist Evan Gershkovitch.
Gershkovitch became the first American journalist arrested on suspicion of espionage in Russia after the Cold War. He was arrested by the Federal Security Service (FSB) on March 29, 2023, while on duty in Yekaterinburg, a city in the Ural Mountains about 900 miles east of Moscow.
The trial is expected to be held in secret, given the lack of transparency in Russia’s judicial system. Gershkovitch faces up to 20 years in prison in Russia.
Hostage diplomacy becomes “vertical” amid geopolitical tensions
Carstens said. rosemary burton live Amid geopolitical tensions between nations, diplomatic channels used for hostage negotiations could become “siloed” for “some strange reason,” it said.
Citing the successful release of basketball star Brittney Griner and former US Marine Trevor Reed, Carstens said: “Even though tensions are high between us and the Russians, we will “Usually we work with the Russians to find a way to bring our people home.”
“We’re working hard, and then all of a sudden one day someone gets on a plane and comes back to the United States,” he said.
In a surprise phone call to CBC News foreign correspondent Briar Stewart in London, Paul Whelan expressed hope that an agreement could be reached to secure his release.
Despite this optimistic message, the recent death of Russia’s most prominent political prisoner, Alexei Navalny, left Mr. Whelan feeling “extremely depressed.”
Whelan said Navalny’s death in a Siberian concentration camp showed how the fate of a high-profile prisoner can change in an instant.
Putin publicly comments on imprisoned Americans
Mr. Gershkovitch’s colleague at the Wall Street Journal, Paul Beckett, wrote about Russian President Vladimir Putin’s recent two high-profile events, his interview with American journalist Tucker Carlson and his annual He finds hope in the fact that he mentioned Gershković at the press conference.
“I understand these conversations are continuing and I look forward to seeing them come to fruition,” Beckett said.
Carstens said Putin’s mention of Gershkovych could signal a possible deal.
“It’s difficult to put words into the mouth of any president, let alone President Putin, but I would like to take this as a sign that he is willing to negotiate and reach an agreement with us,” Carstens said. .
Mr. Gershkovic’s detention has profoundly changed the risk-reward calculus for journalists working in Russia, Mr. Beckett said.
“This is an additional benefit for President Putin,” Beckett said. “Fact-based journalism has declined dramatically.”
“I’m in awe of my brother,” says Daniel Gershkovic.
Daniel Gershkovich said it’s been a year since he received a call from his mother informing him that his brother had been arrested.
“Whatever we’re going through, Evan is going through something much harder, so we just keep moving forward for him,” she said.
Daniel Gershkovic’s brother Evan remains in custody in Russia a year after his arrest, and his family says they are inspired by his continued resilience. “Whatever we’re going through, Evan is going through something much worse,” she told CBC’s Rosemary Barton.
Daniel described his brother as the life of the party. He was captain of his high school soccer team. He was his DJ at the college radio station.
Above all, “journalism is his passion,” Daniel said. “There was always a story he was pursuing.”
Carstens said the message to Gershkovic and Whelan is that the U.S. team will not stop until they return home.
“Evan is not a spy. He is a journalist. Russia should let him go free and come clean because he was essentially doing a journalist’s job. The same goes for Paul Whelan. He is He should just be released,” Carstens said.
