The Kremlin has opened the door for talks with the US over a possible prisoner exchange that could potentially involve jailed Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich – but said they must be held away from the public eye.
Asked if Monday’s consular visits to Mr Gershkovich, who has been held behind bars in Moscow since March on charges of espionage, and Vladimir Dunaev, a Russian citizen in US custody on cybercrime charges, could potentially herald a prisoner swap, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Moscow and Washington are exploring the issue.
“We have said that there have been certain contacts on the subject but we don’t want them to be discussed in public,” Mr Peskov said in a conference call with reporters.
“They must be carried out and continue in complete silence.”
He did not offer any further details but said “the lawful right to consular contacts must be ensured on both sides”.
The US ambassador to Moscow, Lynne Tracy, on Monday was allowed to visit Mr Gershkovich for the first time since April.
The US embassy did not immediately provide more information.
Mr Gershkovich, 31, was arrested in the city of Yekaterinburg while on a reporting trip to Russia.
He is being held at Moscow’s Lefortovo prison, notorious for its harsh conditions.
A Moscow court last week upheld a ruling to keep him in custody until August 30.
Mr Gershkovich and his employer deny the allegations and the US government declared him to be wrongfully detained.
His arrest rattled journalists in Russia where authorities have not provided any evidence to support the espionage charges.
Mr Gershkovich is the first American reporter to face espionage charges in Russia since September 1986, when Nicholas Daniloff, a Moscow correspondent for US News and World Report, was arrested by the KGB.
Mr Daniloff was released 20 days later in a swap for an employee of the Soviet Union’s UN mission who was arrested by the FBI, also on spying charges.
Mr Dunaev was extradited from South Korea on the US cybercrime charges and is in detention in Ohio.
Russian diplomats were granted consular access to him on Monday for the first time since his arrest in 2021, Nadezhda Shumova, the head of the Russian Embassy’s consular section, said in remarks carried by the Tass news agency.
