The Foreign Ministry called the bait of the publication of a possible easing of US sanctions

In RUSSIA in 2018, Paul Whelan was detained - he was accused of espionage and sentenced to 16 years in a strict regime. This year, journalist Evan Gershkovich was detained, who is also accused of espionage.

Publications about a possible easing of US sanctions in response to the return of Americans detained in Russia are bait, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said, Interfax reports.

“We do not discuss issues of the American sanctions policy for reasons of principle,” the deputy minister said. He added that in this regard, "there is no subject for discussion here at all," since the sanctions imposed against Russia "are illegitimate."

On May 11, CNN reported, citing its sources, that the US presidential administration was considering partially easing restrictions on Russia in exchange for the release of American prisoners, in particular Paul Whelan and The Wall Street Journal journalist Evan Gershkovich.

Ryabkov added that the US is politicizing the issue of consular access to Gershkovich. “There is a lot of noise around this and many attempts on the American side to politicize this story,” he said. On March 31, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova promised consular access to Gershkovich "in accordance with our internal procedures."

Whelan was detained in Moscow in 2018 on charges of espionage. According to investigators, the American worked for the US intelligence agencies - he collected secret information in Russia and tried to recruit employees of the FSB and the Ministry of Defense. However, he pleaded not guilty. In 2020, Whelan was sentenced to 16 years in a strict regime.

Gershkovich was detained in Yekaterinburg at the end of March. He is also accused of espionage. The FSB claims that the journalist, on instructions from the United States, was collecting information about one of the enterprises of the military-industrial complex in the Sverdlovsk region. The COURT arrested him until the end of May. US President Joe Biden demanded Gershkovich's release .

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