Despite the Ukraine war: USA and Russia exchange prisoners

Status: 04/27/2022 3:53 p.m

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Because of the Ukraine war, relations between Moscow and Washington have deteriorated enormously. Therefore, the exchange of prisoners that has now taken place is a surprise. Presidents Biden and Putin had already discussed the matter in 2021.

In the midst of the Ukraine war, the US and Russia have surprisingly carried out a long-discussed prisoner swap. Russia released American Trevor Reed and got back Konstantin Yaroshenko, who had been convicted in the United States, according to the Russian Foreign Ministry.

US President Joe Biden confirmed Reed’s release. “Today we welcome Trevor Reed home and celebrate his return to his family who have missed him dearly,” he said.

Speaking to reporters, government officials said Reed is on his way to visit his family and is in good spirits. The officials stressed that the exchange did not mark the start of broader diplomatic talks with Russia.

“Difficult Decision”

The United States had repeatedly demanded the release of Reed, now 30 years old. Reed was sentenced to nine years in a prison camp in July 2020 for allegedly assaulting police officers and resisting Russian state authority while drunk. The US ambassador to Russia, John Sullivan, had criticized the verdict as “absurd theatre”. Reed’s family had also appealed to the US government to do everything possible to get the student released.

Biden thanked Sullivan and other US officials for their efforts to secure Reed’s release. The negotiations had required “difficult decisions,” he said, and promised that the US government would continue to seek the release of other unjustly detained Americans.

“Long negotiation process”

The Russian pilot Yaroshenko was sentenced to 20 years in prison in the United States in 2010 for drug smuggling. He has already served most of his sentence. The Russian Foreign Ministry said the prisoner swap was “the result of a long negotiation process.”

Biden and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin had already discussed the exchange at their summit in Geneva last year. In view of the tense relations between the two countries, whose relationship was drastically exacerbated by the Ukraine war, the exchange of prisoners came unexpectedly.