It is assumed that even if the Russian Federation does not achieve the exchange of Vadim Krasikov, the Russians will still demand an exchange from the United States in a 2: 2 format.
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Sources told CNN that the request was considered problematic for several reasons. Including due to the fact that Krasikov remains in custody in Germany.
Due to the fact that the request was not officially communicated through the FSB, the US government did not consider it as a response to the US proposal to exchange the Americans Brittney Griner and Paul Whelan detained in the Russian Federation for the Russian Viktor Bout.
National Security Council spokeswoman Adrienne Watson said it was a “bad proposal” that signaled Russia’s belief that it could avoid a negotiating table.
“Holding two illegally detained Americans as hostages to free a Russian killer in custody in a third country is not a serious counteroffer,” she said.
National Security Council strategic communications coordinator John Kirby also called the request “an unscrupulous attempt to evade a very serious offer.”
Assessing the course of negotiations, Kirby stressed that they had not stalled, but Russia “did not want to honestly consider or even seriously consider the proposal put forward.”
At the same time, according to sources, the United States made a request to Germany about the possibility of including Krasikov in the list. The American government described this work as “checking Krasikov’s status.”
Several sources told CNN that even if the Russian Federation fails to secure a trade for Vadim Krasikov, the Russians will still demand a 2:2 trade.
Russian government officials have publicly said in recent weeks that they want to secure the release not only of Viktor Bout, but also of Roman Seleznev, a hacker currently serving a 27-year sentence in the US.
Negotiations on the exchange of prisoners between the Russian Federation and the United States
Earlier it was reported that US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken requested and held the first conversation since mid-February with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.
He dealt primarily with “substantial offer” submitted to Moscow “a few weeks ago”.
We are talking about the exchange of Brittney Griner (an American basketball player arrested at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo airport allegedly for transporting hash oil) and Paul Whelan (a Canadian with US, British and Irish citizenship, arrested in the Russian Federation on charges of espionage and sentenced in 2020 to 16 years in prison).
The United States of America offers to exchange them for Viktor Bout, a Russian businessman who was convicted in the United States in 2012 for intent to sell weapons and support terrorism.
What is known about Vadim Krasikov?
Vadim Krasikov – “Vympel” commando, known as the “killer on a bicycle”.
He was convicted for the assassination of the “enemy of the Kremlin” Zelimkhan Khangoshvili in Berlin, where he arrived with documents addressed to “Vadim Sokolov”.
On August 23, 2019, Krasikov rode up behind on a bicycle to Zelimkhan Khangoshvili, who participated in the Second Chechen War as a field commander and lived in Germany after that, and fired three shots from a pistol. As a result, Khangoshvili was killed on the spot.
After that, Krasikov threw a pistol and a bicycle into the waters of the Spree River, took off his wig, and quickly changed clothes. However, two teenagers who accidentally noticed his suspicious actions called the police.
German Prosecutor’s Office claimed that the crime was ordered by the Russian government.
Earlier, journalists discovered a connection between the former “DPR Minister of Defense” Igor Girkin (Strelkov) and the former leader of the “LPR” Igor Plotnitsky, the poisoners of the opposition leader Alexei Navalny and special forces officer Vadim Krasikov. All of them used cover passports of the same series as the FSB officers.
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