(FROM SRN NEWS/AP) – The United States and Russia completed their biggest prisoner swap in post-Soviet history on Thursday, with Moscow releasing journalist Evan Gershkovich and fellow American Paul Whelan, along with dissidents including Vladimir Kara-Murza, in a multinational deal that set two dozen people free, the White House said.
Astonishing in scope, the trade followed years of secretive back-channel negotiations despite relations between Washington and Moscow being at their lowest point since the Cold War after Russian President Vladimir Putin’s February 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
The deal was the latest in a series of prisoner swaps negotiated between Russia and the U.S. in the past two years but the first to require significant concessions from other countries, with seven nations agreeing to give up 24 prisoners. It was trumpeted as a “diplomatic feat” by President Joe Biden, who called the news an “incredible relief” and said the detainees’ “brutal ordeal was over.”
“Today is a powerful example of why it’s vital to have friends in this world,” he said in an address from the White House while joined by families of four — three Americans and one green card holder — who were released.
But the welcome news was still sure to spark concerns over the imbalance of the deal — with Russia freeing journalists, dissidents and others convicted in a highly politicized court system in exchange for people the West regards as rightfully charged — and whether it gives foreign actors seeking leverage over the U.S. an incentive to take prisoners.