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The U.S. ambassador to Russia met with Evan Gershkovich, the jailed American reporter for The Wall Avenue Journal, in Lefortovo Jail in Moscow on Monday, the State Division mentioned hours after their discuss.
The go to by the ambassador, Lynne Tracy, marked the third time she had met with Mr. Gershkovich since he was detained by the Russian authorities in March.
“Ambassador Tracy mentioned that Evan continues to seem in good well being and stays sturdy, regardless of his circumstances,” the State Division mentioned in a written assertion.
American officers have mentioned that their Russian counterparts are blocking them from getting common consular entry to Mr. Gershkovich, the primary American journalist arrested on an espionage cost in Russia for the reason that finish of the Chilly Battle.
Relations between Washington and Moscow are at their lowest level in a long time following the choice by President Vladimir V. Putin to start out a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Analysts say Russian officers underneath Mr. Putin doubtless detained Mr. Gershkovich in hopes of doing a prisoner swap with the USA.
Russian officers are holding Mr. Gershkovich, 31, on an accusation of spying despite the fact that he’s a journalist with accreditation from Russia’s International Ministry and regardless of the very fact he was doing reporting on the time of his detention.
Brokers from the Federal Safety Service, or F.S.B., detained Mr. Gershkovich on March 29 whereas he was on a reporting journey within the metropolis of Yekaterinburg within the Urals area.
The Wall Avenue Journal and Mr. Gershkovich’s members of the family have denied any accusation that he’s a spy, and Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken mentioned in April that he had been wrongfully detained.
In December 2022, President Biden agreed to launch Viktor Bout, an imprisoned Russian weapons supplier, in alternate for the liberty of Brittney Griner, the American basketball star, almost 10 months after Ms. Griner was detained in Moscow on accusations of drug smuggling and possession. The State Division mentioned in Might 2022 that she had been wrongfully detained.
Russia has mentioned it should talk about prisoner releases with the USA via a particular channel that Mr. Biden and Mr. Putin established at a gathering in Geneva in 2021. The negotiations to launch of Ms. Griner happened via that channel.
A Russian court docket determined in June to increase Mr. Gershkovich’s detention till at the very least Aug. 30 and denied an attraction from his attorneys. The detention was initially speculated to have ended on Might 29. Ms. Tracy final met with Mr. Gershkovich in jail on July 3.
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