Washington
CNN
—
American Trevor Reed, a US citizen and former Marine who had been detained in Russia since 2019, was released in a prisoner swap.
The release ends a nearly three-year ordeal for Reed, who was sentenced to nine years in prison in July 2020 for endangering the “life and health” of Russian police officers in an altercation. Reed and his family have denied the charges against him.
Reed’s release will not affect the US approach to the war in Ukraine, senior administration officials said.
His release comes after months of efforts by the US government, officials said, and was particularly urgent given concerns about Reed’s health. Ultimately, he secured himself through a prisoner exchange for Russian citizen Konstantin Yaroshenko.
The exchange took place in Turkey on Wednesday, Trevor’s parents, Joey and Paula Reed, told CNN. The couple spoke with his son shortly after he returned home.
“Trevor quickly told us that they, the American plane stopped next to the Russian plane, and they crossed both prisoners at the same time, just like you see in the movies,” Joey Reed said on CNN’s “New Day.”
The Reeds said they also spoke with President Joe Biden on Wednesday and expressed their gratitude.
“I heard in the voices of Trevor’s parents how much they cared about his health and missed his presence,” Biden said in a statement. “And he was delighted to be able to share with them the good news about Trevor’s freedom.”
White House press secretary Jen Psaki told CNN’s Kaitlan Collins on Wednesday that the president waited to notify the Reed family of their son’s release because “he didn’t want to put anyone in a position of risk, even to people who are excited, joyful and waiting for the news.”
Pressed on whether Russia was able to get any other terms from the US besides a one-to-one prisoner swap, Psaki told CNN, “There were no other terms that I know of,” later adding, “This was about a problem.” and a topic and I don’t think we should go deeper into it.”
Reed’s release was the result of “months and months of painstaking and careful work throughout the US government.” on the matter, a senior administration official said, noting that “talks on this particular issue have recently accelerated to get us to this point.”
A determining factor was concern for Reed’s health. Her family has raised concerns about her likely exposure to tuberculosis, as well as the lingering effects of having Covid-19.
The official, speaking to reporters in a background call on Wednesday, said that “ultimately, those negotiations led to the president having to make a very difficult decision with the decision to commute the sentence of Konstantin Yaroshenko, a convicted Russian smuggler.” for conspiring to import cocaine. .”
Yaroshenko is a Russian pilot who had been detained in Liberia by undercover US Drug Enforcement Agency agents on May 28, 2010 and taken to the US, according to the Russian state news agency TASS. He was convicted of drug smuggling in 2011 and sentenced to 20 years in prison, which he had been serving at the Federal Correctional Institution in Danbury, Connecticut. He has denied the charges against him.
The Russian Foreign Ministry had previously raised the possibility that Yaroshenko could be returned “in exchange for any US citizen” held in Russia.
The official did not provide details on how or why Yaroshenko was chosen for the swap, but noted that he had served most of his US sentence and is now in Russian custody.
“This is a difficult decision for a president. President Biden did so to bring home an American whose health was of grave concern and to fulfill his commitment to resolve these difficult cases and reunite Americans with their loved ones,” the official said.
Reed is now back with his family in the United States.
“I’m going to try not to cry, because he doesn’t want me to cry,” Reed’s mother, Paula, told CNN’s Brianna Keilar on “New Day” on Wednesday. “Obviously, I’m going to cry a little bit, give him a big hug, and just, you know, give him hugs, and we’ll be all four of us together again (for the first time) in a few years. so it’s going to be great.”
Reed’s father previously told CNN that he believed Reed likely had tuberculosis, was coughing up blood and also had a broken rib. He said Reed went to a prison hospital but received no treatment and was later sent back to solitary confinement.
When Reed went on a second hunger strike to protest his treatment by the Russian authorities, Reed’s parents protested outside the White House in hopes of securing a meeting with the president.
The Reeds finally met with the president at the White House for about half an hour last month.
Wednesday’s release also brought renewed attention to the case of American Paul Whelan, a US citizen and former Marine who was detained in a Moscow hotel in December 2018 and arrested on espionage charges, which he has consistently and vehemently denied. . He was found guilty and sentenced in June 2020 to 16 years in prison in a trial that US officials denounced as unfair.
Last June, he told CNN about the harsh conditions of the remote work camp where he works at a garment factory he called a “sweatshop” and said getting medical care is “very difficult.”
In his statement welcoming Reed’s release, Biden said his administration “won’t stop” until Whelan is home.
The Whelan family expressed their happiness at Reed’s release, but said it was a day of “mixed emotions” and questions for them.
“Unfortunately, time is not on Paul’s side. Our parents are literally not getting any younger. Our hope remains that Paul is home so they can see him one more time. But every day that hope fades,” his brother David Whelan said in a statement Wednesday.
Meanwhile, American basketball star Brittney Griner remains in detention in Russia after being arrested in February on drug smuggling charges. A Moscow court recently extended her detention until May 19, according to the Russian state news agency TASS.
While her legal team had access to her and was able to see her several times a week during her detention, in late March Griner was finally granted consular access to a US Embassy official in good standing.”
Ned Price, a State Department spokesman, told CNN’s Jim Sciutto on Wednesday that the cases remain top priorities for the United States.
Psaki echoed Price’s sentiment, saying Wednesday that the White House “will continue to do everything possible” to secure the release of Whelan, Griner and other Americans still held in Russia.
This story has been updated with additional background information and reactions.
Reference-www.cnn.com