2024-08-04 22:36:27
The deal, which involved two dozen prisoners, dates back to 2022, but behind-the-scenes talks between Russia, the US and four European countries intensified earlier this year and came close to being finalized in recent weeks as the final deal was seen by all parties, according to the BBC.
These negotiations were sometimes heated and full of trials. In addition, they took place at a time when tensions between the United States and Russia over the war in Ukraine had increased. “This was the culmination of many difficult, painstaking negotiations over many months,” US national security adviser Jake Sullivan, who played a key role in the deal, said shortly after the prisoner swap.
Senior White House officials provided a detailed chronology of events during a briefing with reporters on Thursday. They said the first hint that Moscow might be open to a deal came in 2022. in autumn
The United States and Russia have been negotiating the release of American basketball star Brittney Griner, who was arrested for possession of cannabis oil and sent to a Russian penal colony. Griner was eventually released later that year in a high-profile swap deal for notorious Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout.
But during those talks, White House officials said, Russia made it clear that it also wanted to secure the release of killer Vadim Krasikov, who is serving a life sentence in Germany for shooting a man in a busy Berlin park on direct orders from the Kremlin.
Mr. Sullivan told his counterpart in Germany that Russia was seeking Mr. Krasikov’s release and asked if Berlin would consider releasing him in exchange for Alexei Navalny, an opposition leader who has spoken out against Putin, who is being held in Russia.
However, Germany did not want to release the murderer who committed such a brazen murder on its territory.
Although Mr. Sullivan did not receive a final answer from Berlin, the first talks in 2022. between both the US and Russia and between the US and Germany helped set the stage for a larger, more complex deal that has been hammered out in recent weeks and concluded on the runway of the Turkish capital’s airport.
That’s because both sides have made it clear, at least to some extent, what they want, the BBC writes.
Russia has clearly indicated that it wants V. Krasikov. And Washington wanted not only A. Navalno, but also Paul Whelan, a former marine who in 2018 He was imprisoned in Russia on espionage charges.
Then the first elements of a potential trade began to emerge, but there was still a long, long way to go.
in 2023 at the end of March, a 31-year-old reporter for The Wall Street Journal from New Jersey, who was on a reporting trip, was arrested by Russian intelligence agents. Russia has been condemned by the United States and its allies for his detention. A day later, President Biden instructed Mr. Sullivan to make a deal that would bring him and Mr. Whelan home.
The US contacted Russia directly. White House officials said serious communication then began, with their foreign ministers speaking by phone.
But the conversation soon shifted from these top diplomats to the secret services, something the United States was reluctant to do because Mr. Gershkovich was accused of espionage and Washington feared that involving the CIA would only fuel those allegations.
in 2023 at the end, when the wheels of these tense negotiations were turning, the United States realized that, according to senior White House officials, the release of the killer V. Krasikova was necessary for a successful agreement. Proposals were made to Russia that did not include the 58-year-old killer. They were always rejected.
Since V. Krasikov was imprisoned in Germany, not the United States, Washington did not have the power to unilaterally release him. in 2023 at the end and in 2024 in early January, Mr. Sullivan spoke with his German counterpart almost weekly, trying to convince him to replace V. Krasikov and meet Russia’s main demand for this deal.
According to White House officials, any possible deal was contingent on Germany releasing Krasikova. Moscow’s position, they said, was that its jailed spies should be returned in exchange for Americans accused of espionage.
With that in mind, the US has been scrambling to find more Russian spies, considered allies, who could be part of a major deal. US officials, diplomats and CIA operatives have traveled the world in search of friendly governments willing to release prisoners who fit that description, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Russians were released from prisons in Poland, Slovenia and Norway on Thursday.
In February of this year, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz met with President J. Biden at the White House. According to the account provided by White House officials on Thursday, they discussed options for the exchange, which included all the key figures – V. Krasikov, A. Navalnas, P. Whelan, E. Gershkovich.
There were also positive signals from Russia. In early February, during an interview with former Fox News host Tucker Carlson, Vladimir Putin spoke about E. Gershkovich. “I do not rule out that Mr. Gershkovich can return to his homeland,” he said.
However, in 2024 on February 16, just a few days after this interview and the White House meeting between Chancellor O. Scholz and US President J. Biden, and before the Russians could make any offer, the potential deal collapsed under tragic circumstances.
Perhaps the most high-profile prisoner to be included in the exchange, Navalny died at the age of 47 in a Siberian prison where he was being held. His supporters and relatives, as well as many foreign heads of state, blamed V. Putin for his death. Russian authorities said he died of natural causes.
Although almost nothing was known about the negotiations at the time of his death, A. Navalnos’ colleague Marija Pevčič publicly stated that A. Navalnos was close to being released in exchange for V. Krasikova. Meanwhile, the Kremlin has publicly denied that a potential deal was close.
However, the White House confirmed on Thursday that it sought to include Navalny in the deal that eventually freed three people who worked with the opposition figure from a Russian prison.
“The team felt like the wind had been taken out of our sails,” a visibly emotional Sullivan said of the impact of Navalny’s death.
It is a dramatic coincidence that E.Gershkovich’s mother and father met with J.Sullivan at the White House on the day that A.Navalno’s death was announced.
Acknowledging the importance of the news and the risks it poses to these talks, he told them that “the road is going to be a little more rocky” going forward. The potential deal had to be restructured, and the US and Germany regrouped.
Then US Vice President Kamala Harris held two high-profile meetings to help keep the potential swap alive, a senior administration official told the BBC.
In mid-February, she attended the Munich Security Conference, where she emphasized the importance of V. Krasikov’s release to Chancellor O. Szholz.
She also met with Slovenian Prime Minister Robert Golob. Two Russian prisoners were held in this country, which the US identified as very important to Moscow. Both were released on Thursday.
In the spring, a new agreement was concluded in the White House, in which A. Navalnas was no longer included. June Berlin agreed to hand over V. Krasikova.
“I’ll do it for you,” Mr. Sullivan said Mr. Scholz told Mr. Biden.
The deal was submitted to Russia.
Moscow responded a few weeks ago, in mid-July, by agreeing to the terms of the deal and the release of those on the list held in Russian prisons.
But as the talks neared their final stages, domestic politics intervened: Mr. Biden was under intense pressure from within his own Democratic Party to end his bid for re-election in November after a poor showing in the debates.
According to Mr. Sullivan, just an hour before Mr. Biden announced that he would not seek re-election on July 21, he spoke with his Slovenian counterpart, finalizing negotiations on a prisoner exchange.
As with any high-profile prisoner swap, the deal was not secured even after the planes were assembled and the prisoners’ routes home were finalized.
“Until a couple of hours ago, we were holding our breath and crossing our fingers,” Sullivan said Thursday afternoon.
President Biden later posted a photo of the released Americans together on a plane bound for U.S. territory, along with a brief caption: “They are safe, free and have begun their journey back to the arms of their families.”
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2024-08-04 22:36:27