The United States has held negotiations with Russia regarding the release of two of its citizens detained in Russia. So far, the Kremlin has not bowed to Washington’s proposal.
16:20•Updated 16:23
US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken spoke yesterday for the first time on the phone with his Russian colleague Sergei Lavrov with the large-scale war of aggression started by Russia in Ukraine.
According to the Russian Foreign Ministry, Lavrov told Blinken that Russia will achieve all the goals of its “special operation”.
Blinken, on the other hand, described the conversation as “honest and direct”. During the call, he emphasized that Russia should meet the conditions for grain shipments to Ukraine.
However, according to Blinken, the main topic of discussion between the foreign ministers was the exchange of prisoners. The United States has long demanded the Kremlin release two American citizens detained in Russia.
This week, the United States said it would be willing to exchange a jailed Russian arms dealer Igor Boutin to American prisoners. During the call, Blinken pressed Lavrov to accept this “significant proposal”.
A counter proposal is impossible
Instead, Russia has demanded the release of the former FSB colonel, who is serving a life sentence in Germany. Him convicted (you move to another service) From the murder in Berlin’s Tiergarten to a life sentence last year.
Kirby emphasized that Russia’s demand is impossible to implement.
– Holding two Americans hostage in order to free someone convicted of murder in a third country is not an offer to be taken seriously.
According to the judgment of the Berlin Supreme Court, a former colonel of the FSB shot a Georgian man to death in Tiergarten on behalf of the Russian state.
Russia denies its involvement in the murder in 2019 and has demanded the release of the former colonel.