Putin calls on America to ‘make an offer to us’ for the release of Evan Gershkovich adding he should not have ‘committed offences on Russian soil’ as Moscow court today upholds ruling to keep him jailed until Jan 30

Russian President Vladimir Putin said for the first time that he is ready to make a deal with the United States for the sake of jailed Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich.

In her first major news conference since Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, Valerie Hopkins of The New York Times asked Putin whether a way could be found to keep Gershkowitz, 32, and jailed former Marine Paul Whelan at home.

“Why did they commit crimes on Russian soil? They shouldn’t have done this. This doesn’t mean we refuse to send them home. We want to reach an agreement, and these agreements must be mutually acceptable,” Putin said.

“We have contacts with our American partners on this matter. We are in touch with them and conducting a dialogue. It’s not easy at all… but I think we speak a language that both sides understand,” he added.

This morning Gershkovich appeared before another hearing in Moscow, where he is being held on charges of espionage. At that hearing, his detention was upheld.

Putin was asked about jailed Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich (pictured) as the journalist was jailed in Moscow on espionage charges

Gershkovich stands in a glass cage in the courtroom of the Moscow City Court in Moscow, Russia, on Thursday.

During his first press conference after the Ukrainian invasion, Vladimir Putin said he was open to a prisoner exchange deal with the United States.

Putin has not directly stated who his government is trying to secure the release of in the United States.

In April 2023, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that there were about 60 citizens in US custody. As of August 2023 Wall Street Journal According to the report, 25 of them are in federal custody.

There are believed to be several other detainees at Guantanamo who are being held on suspicion of terrorism offenses linked to jihadist groups. These prisoners are unlikely to be of much interest to Putin’s government.

Russia arrested the reporter in March while on a reporting trip to the Russian city of Yekaterinburg, 1,200 miles east of Moscow. Gershkovitch, the Wall Street Journal and the White House have denied that he is a spy or working for the US government.

“It’s not easy, I won’t go into details now, but in general it seems to me that we speak a language that each other understands. I hope we find a solution.”

“But, I repeat, the American side must hear us and make an appropriate decision that suits the Russian side,” Putin said.

Marine veteran Paul Whelan was arrested in 2018, convicted of spying for the United States in 2020 and sentenced to 16 years in prison. Whelan and the US government deny the allegations.

The US government believes both men were wrongfully detained. The State Department said Dec. 5 that Russia had rejected a substantive new proposal for their release in recent weeks.

The Russian FSB claims that Gershkovich “acted on instructions from the American side, collecting information constituting a state secret about the activities of one of the enterprises of the Russian military-industrial complex.”

Since then he has been behind bars. Russian authorities have provided no evidence to support the espionage charges.

Still languishing in a Russian prison is former Marine Paul Whelan, pictured here.

On November 28, the Lefortovo District Court of Moscow decided to extend his detention until the end of January, and the appeal filed by Gershkovich against this decision was rejected by the Moscow City Court at a meeting on Thursday.

Gershkovich is the first American reporter to be charged with espionage in Russia since 1986, when the KGB arrested US News and World Report Moscow correspondent Nicholas Danilov. He is being held in Moscow’s Lefortovo prison, known for its harsh conditions.

Analysts say Moscow could use the jailed Americans as bargaining chips after tensions between the U.S. and Russia soared when Russia sent troops to Ukraine.

At least two US citizens arrested in Russia in recent years, including WNBA star Britney Greiner, were exchanged for Russians jailed in the US.

The Russian Foreign Ministry said it would consider the possibility of exchanging Gershkovich only after a verdict in his case is reached. In Russia, espionage trials can last more than a year.

Earlier this month, the US State Department said the Biden administration had made a new and significant proposal aimed at securing the release of Gershkovitch and another US detainee, Paul Whelan.

Russia rejected the offer, spokesman Matthew Miller said, without disclosing details of the offer or why Russia rejected it.

Lynn Tracy, the US ambassador to Russia, attended Gershkovich’s appeal hearing on Thursday and told reporters that Evan’s “ordeal spanned more than 250 days.” “His life was put on hold for more than eight months because of a crime he did not commit.”

“While Evan appeared as sharp and focused as ever in the courtroom today, it is unacceptable that Russian authorities have chosen to use him as a political pawn,” Tracy said after the hearing.