Russia and ; they exchange prisoners; Biden says it took tough decisions


Former US Marine Trevor Reed, sentenced to nine years in prison in Russia for violence, was exchanged for Konstantin Yaroshenko, a Russian pilot jailed in the United States for cocaine trafficking, Russian diplomacy announced on Wednesday.

“On April 27, after a long negotiation process, Trevor Reed (…) was exchanged for the Russian citizen Konstantin Yaroshenko, sentenced to 20 years in prison by a US court in 2010,” the Russian Ministry spokeswoman said. of Foreign Affairs, Maria Zajárova, on the Telegram social network.

Reed, in his 30s, was sentenced in July 2020 to nine years in prison for assaulting two policemen during a party in Moscow when he was drunk.

The former marine denied the aggression and denounces a “political” trial in a context of high tensions between Moscow and Washington.

Yaroshenko, on the other hand, was arrested in 2010 in Liberia by US secret service agents. Accused of drug trafficking, the authorities took him to the United States, where the justice sentenced him to 20 years in prison.

The American President, Joe Biden, vowed to do everything possible to free Trevor Reed and other Americans “wrongly detained” in Russia. The hypothesis of a prisoner exchange had been mentioned several times.

Detained in a penal colony in Mordovia, 500 km from Moscow, Reed had started a hunger strike in November 2021 to protest against their conditions of detention.

Biden: Prisoner swap required tough decisions

US President Joe Biden said Wednesday that negotiations to secure the release of former US Marine Trevor Reed imprisoned in Russia in exchange for a Russian prisoner in the United States required making “difficult decisions.”

While welcoming the return of Trevor Reed to his family, Biden said in a statement that the negotiations that made the prisoner swap possible “required difficult decisions that I do not take lightly.”

Reed’s “safe return is a testament to the priority my administration places on bringing home Americans held hostage and wrongfully detained abroad,” Trump said.

Secretary of State Anthony Blinken he also praised the swap.

I am pleased to announce the release of US citizen Trevor Reed, who was wrongfully detained in Russia,” Blinken said in a statement.

“We remain committed to ensuring the freedom of all American citizens unjustly detained abroad,” he said.

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