(2 Aug 2024)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Joint Base Andrews, Maryland – 2 August 2024
1. Former American prisoner freed by Russia Paul Whelan speaking to reporters
2. SOUNDBITE (English) Paul Whelan, Former prisoner freed by Russia:
"…phone calls, everything that you’ve done with my family, it means a lot. So.."
(Reporter: "How do you feel?)
Whelan: "I feel great. It’s a long time coming. So I’m glad to be back."
3. Whelan speaking to reporters, walks away
STORYLINE:
The United States and Russia completed their biggest prisoner swap in post-Soviet history on Thursday, with Moscow releasing journalist Evan Gershkovich and fellow American Paul Whelan, along with dissidents including Vladimir Kara-Murza, in a multinational deal that set two dozen people free.
Gershkovich, Whelan and Alsu Kurmasheva, a journalist with dual U.S.-Russia citizenship, arrived on American soil shortly before midnight for a joyful reunion with their families. President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris were also there to greet them and dispense hugs all around.
The trade unfolded despite relations between Washington and Moscow being at their lowest point since the Cold War after Russian President Vladimir Putin’s February 2022 invasion of Ukraine. Negotiators in backchannel talks at one point explored an exchange involving Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, but after his death in February ultimately stitched together a 24-person deal that required significant concessions from European allies, including the release of a Russian assassin, and secured freedom for a cluster of journalists, suspected spies, political prisoners and others.
Whelan is a Michigan corporate security executive. He jailed since 2018 on espionage charges he and Washington have denied. At Joint Base Andrews early Friday, he said he feels great and that "I’m glad to be back."
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