Putin hints at possible deal on detained US reporter Ivan Gershkovich, referring to Russian hitman in German prison

(CNN) — Russian President Vladimir Putin has suggested a deal “could be made” with the United States to free detained American journalist Ivan Gershkovich, citing the conviction of a “patriotic” Russian hitman in Germany.

The comments came during a long and sometimes heavy-handed interview with American right-winger Tucker Carlson, Putin’s first meeting with a Western media figure since the February 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

The Moscow interview sparked controversy for Carlson even before it aired and showed the former Fox News host avoiding challenging the authoritarian Russian leader. For nearly two hours, Putin repeated lengthy passages on Russia’s history, its alleged grievances with the West, as well as its justifications for launching Europe’s biggest conflict since World War II.

Gershkovich, a Wall Street Journal reporter, was captured last March on a reporting trip across the country. The Federal Security Service, Russia’s main security service, accused him of trying to obtain state secrets, a charge strongly denied by Gershkovich, his employer and the US government.

“We have made so many goodwill gestures that, it seems, we are out of it,” Putin said when Karlsson asked him if he was ready to release Gershkovich, according to a transcript from Russian state news agency RIA. Novosti.

“No one has ever responded to our goodwill gestures with the same gesture. But, in principle, we are prepared to say that we cannot rule out the possibility of doing so with the counterpart of our partners.”

During a two-hour interview recorded in the Russian capital Moscow, Putin said that representatives of Russian and American “special services” were holding talks and that the issue should be resolved through appropriate channels.

“We have no inhibitions about solving this problem. We are ready to solve it, but there are some conditions that are being discussed through special channels between the intelligence services. I believe that an agreement can be reached,” he told the former. Presenter. From Fox News.

A Russian court has repeatedly extended preventive detention, but if convicted, Gershkovich could face up to 20 years in prison.

The US State Department has officially designated Gershkovich as wrongfully detained by Russia.

American journalist Ivan Gershkovich was arrested on October 10, 2023 in a Moscow court on charges of espionage in the defendants’ cage. (Natalia Kolesnikova/AFP/Getty Images/File)

In December, Gershkovich’s sister told CNN that the ordeal has been “painful” and “increasingly difficult” for her family as they await progress on his release.

“He’s missed a lot. And we miss him a lot, but we have to stay strong and keep fighting for Ivan,” said Daniel Gershkovich.

Efforts by the Biden administration to secure his release have not yet yielded results. The White House offered to exchange a large number of Russian nationals detained on espionage charges abroad in exchange for the release of Gershkovich and fellow American Paul Whalen, two people familiar with the matter told CNN in December, but the offer was not accepted.

When Putin said Gershkovich was working with American special services, Carlson pressed the Russian president, saying: “This guy is obviously not a spy, he’s a kid. He’s being held hostage.”

Murder in a park in Berlin

In response, Putin expressed Russia’s interest in the release of a Russian citizen currently serving a life sentence for murder in Germany.

Putin pointed to the case of Vadim Krasikov, a former colonel of Russia’s domestic spy agency, who was convicted of killing a Chechen ex-fighter in broad daylight in Berlin in 2019.

“Listen, I will tell you: sitting in a country, a country that is an ally of the United States, there is a man who, for patriotic reasons, exterminated a bandit in one of the European capitals,” Putin said.

Russian government officials had already requested that Krasikov be released as part of a proposed prisoner exchange of notorious Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout for US citizens Brittney Griner and Paul Whalen, according to US officials and CNN reports.

Griner, a professional basketball player, was released in a prisoner exchange by Bout while Whalen remains in prison.

Paul Whalen, a former US Marine who says he was visiting Russia for a friend’s wedding, was arrested in Moscow on December 28, 2018, and jailed on espionage charges he has consistently and vehemently denied. .

The Wall Street Journal responded to Putin’s suggestion that Gershkovich could be freed, saying: “Ivan is a journalist and journalism is not a crime. Any narrative to the contrary is complete fiction.”

“Ivan was falsely arrested and wrongfully detained by Russia for nearly a year for his work, and we continue to demand his immediate release,” the newspaper said in a statement. was

“We encourage Russia to see its willingness to reach an agreement that brings Ivan home, and we hope that this will lead to his speedy release and return to his family and our newsroom,” he added.

Ukrainian history and war lessons

Before the interview aired, Carlson was widely criticized as giving Putin an outlet for his propaganda campaign. In recent years, Carlson has offered flattering interviews to Hungarian dictator Viktor Orbán and Argentina’s far-right president Javier Milli, giving the figures a platform to push their agenda.

Carlson defended himself by saying that Western journalists “didn’t bother” to interview Putin and accused him of engaging in “sycophantic pap sessions” while interviewing Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky, with whom the former Fox News host claimed They want to sit. Seriously, but compare it to a rat once.

In fact, journalists have repeatedly requested interviews with Putin, but the Russian president has refused to grant them access. And not only has Putin refused to participate in interviews with the free press, but over the past two years he has waged a war on the media, locking up journalists, fining major tech companies for harboring “false” information about invading Ukraine. Censorship laws that limit news organizations.

The interview provided some groundbreaking substance that might enlighten the American public about what to do about Ukraine, which has been wracked by nearly two years of unprovoked Russian bombing and illegal occupation.

An arrest warrant has been issued against Putin by the International Criminal Court for an alleged plot to send Ukrainian children to Russia. And on Thursday, Human Rights Watch said the Russian president should face a war crimes investigation for Moscow’s brutal attack on the Ukrainian city of Mariupol, which killed thousands of people, destroyed countless buildings and was followed by a massive vaccination campaign.

Carlson’s first question was about why Russia invaded Ukraine, before repeating his speech about NATO expansion, followed by a 30-minute re-provincialist lecture on the history of Russia and Ukraine, citing the “denazification” of Ukraine as justification for his brutal war.

“Putin really came out on top against Tucker Carlson,” said CNN contributor and former CNN Moscow bureau chief Jill Dougherty.

“I expected the opposite. I expected a lot of energy from Carlson, but he never asked the questions he needed to ask, especially about the war. The constant bombing, the transfer of Ukrainian children to Russia, the people arrested in Russia. Right now, People who left Russia because of the war. There are a lot of questions that were asked and never were,” Dougherty said.

Carlson’s interview style, for example, contrasted sharply with that of Austrian journalist Armin Wolf, who famously had a testy Putin encounter in 2018 in which he repeatedly challenged the Russian leader.

On relations with the United States, Putin said he had not spoken to President Joe Biden before the war in February 2022, but added that there are “certain contacts” between Moscow and Washington that are ongoing.

“I don’t remember when I spoke to him,” Putin said. “But why should I remember everything? I have much to do. We have internal political affairs.”

Putin added that Biden had made a “huge mistake of historic proportions” by supporting Ukraine.

The Russian president denied that Moscow had expansionist ambitions, ruled out continued occupation of sovereign Ukrainian territory and said Russia had no interest in attacking Poland, Latvia or other European nations. He dismissed such claims as “mere threats,” according to a translation provided by Carlson.

Putin also appeared to rule out the use of strategic nuclear weapons, suggesting that Western leaders were pitching the idea “to extort additional money from American and European taxpayers.”

“It is against common sense to engage in any kind of global war… and a global war would bring all humanity to the brink of destruction.”

Last year, Putin deployed strategic nuclear weapons to neighboring ally Belarus, and Dmitry Medvedev, a former Russian president and vice-chairman of the Russian Security Council, said strategic nuclear weapons could be used to defend Ukrainian territories annexed by Russia.

The Russian president suggested that the way to end the war in Ukraine is through direct negotiations between Washington and Moscow.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has rejected suggestions in the past that it is time to negotiate peace with the Kremlin and has said on several occasions that he will not leave Ukrainian territory. “When you want to reach an agreement or have a dialogue with someone, you can’t do that with a liar,” he told CNN in September.

“There are border problems, migration problems, national debt problems,” Putin said of the U.S. “You don’t have anything better to do, so you fight in Ukraine? Isn’t it better to reach an agreement with Russia.” An agreement. Reach out, already understanding the situation that is developing today and knowing that Russia will defend its interests to the end.”

The United States and its allies have supported Ukraine with weapons and economic support since Russia’s massive invasion of the country in February 2022; They have not sent troops to Ukraine, which is not a NATO member.

The visit comes as US lawmakers debate a multibillion-dollar funding package for Ukraine. The US Senate voted Thursday to advance a $95.3 billion foreign aid package, which provides aid to Ukraine and Israel, after Republicans blocked a broader bill earlier this week that included security measures.
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