Evan Gershkovich and Paul Whelan released in Russia-West prisoner swap

Reuters:

MOSCOW/ANKARA/WASHINGTON, Aug 1 – U.S. journalist Evan Gershkovich and ex-U.S. Marine Paul Whelan returned to the United States on Thursday, hours after being freed from Russian detention in the biggest prisoner exchange between the two countries since the Cold War.

The White House said it negotiated the trade with Russia, Germany and three other countries. The deal, worked on in secrecy for more than a year, involved 24 prisoners – 16 moving from Russia to the West and eight sent back to Russia from the West.

They included Vadim Krasikov, convicted of murdering an exiled dissident in Berlin, the German government said.

U.S. President Joe Biden hailed the deal as “a feat of diplomacy and friendship” and praised Washington’s allies for their “bold and brave decisions.”

Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, buoyed by the occasion, greeted freed Americans Gershkovich, Whelan and journalist Alsu Kurmasheva, as well as Russian dissident and U.S. resident Vladimir Kara-Murza, as they arrived at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland, shortly before midnight (0400 GMT).

The president took off his lapel pin and gave it to Whelan as he got off the Bombardier Global 7500 aircraft.

The deal gives the Biden-Harris administration a marquee diplomatic success with the presidential campaign, pitting Harris against Republican former President Donald Trump, barely three months away.

Harris, poised to be the Democratic nominee after Biden dropped out of the race last month, praised his leadership for bringing together the complex prisoner swap, telling reporters on the tarmac it was a testament to American leadership.