Moscow denies top Russian, US diplomats spoke about prisoners exchange

By Elena Teslova

MOSCOW (AA) - Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova denied on Friday that top Russian and US diplomats discussed an exchange of US national Paul Whelan who is serving a prison sentence in Russia for espionage.

In a post on Telegram, she called "lies" comments by US State Department spokesman Ned Price, who said Secretary of State Antony Blinken "put forward a serious proposal" on Whelan's exchange during a short contact with Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on the sidelines of the G-20 ministerial meeting in New Delhi on Thursday.

"Oh, how interesting. I asked Sergey Viktorovich if Blinken had raised the topic of Whelan yesterday. It turned out that the US secretary of state did not even stutter on this score.

"Everything that the State Department said yesterday that Blinken expressed concern about the situation around a US citizen is a lie. The incredible behavior of the American administration," Zakharova said.

Zakharova on Thursday said Blinken "asked for contact with Lavrov," and the two diplomats then spoke "on the go."

In June 2020, Moscow City Court sentenced former US Marine Whelan to 16 years in a high-security prison, announcing him guilty of espionage. Whelan declared himself innocent and said he will appeal against the sentence.

The Federal Security Service detained him in Moscow in December 2018.