Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov appealed to US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo with an appeal to release the Russians serving their sentences for humanitarian reasons, said on Thursday, August 27, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova.
According to Zakharova, reports that negotiations are underway between Russia and the United States to exchange detained Russians are incorrect.
“Indeed, lately the media have regularly published publications about the preparation of the exchange of American citizens, including Paul Whelan, recently convicted in Russia, for Russian citizens held in American prisons. As previously noted by representatives of the leadership of the Russian Foreign Ministry, all reports about the allegedly ongoing negotiations on this score do not correspond to reality, ”the diplomat said.
On June 20, Russian Ambassador to Washington Anatoly Antonov said that about 100 Russians are being held in the United States. According to him, Russians are imprisoned in a punishment cell on far-fetched pretexts, deprived of adequate medical care, medicines, and restricting calls to relatives.
The news is supplemented.