Putin claims he’s in talks to free Americans jailed in Russia

Russian President Vladimir Putin says he is in talks with US officials to free jailed Americans Evan Gershkovich and Paul Whelan, but that making a deal is “not easy”.

Mr Putin said the Kremlin hopes to “find a solution” to see the prisoners returned to the US, but any deal “must suit the Russian side as well” as the White House continues to push for a resolution.

“We have contacts with American partners on this matter. A dialogue is ongoing,” Mr Putin said in remarks during his annual year-end press conference.

“It is not easy; I won’t go into details now, but overall, it seems to me that we are speaking a language understandable to each other.”

Mr Putin’s comments come after Russia recently rejected a significant new US proposal to free the two men, a US State Department spokesman said last week.

The US had offered to swap a significant number of Russian nationals detained on espionage charges overseas in exchange for the release of the two Americans, sources told CNN.

Efforts to free the two prisoners, who the US says are being held on bogus espionage charges, are being led by President Joe Biden and Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

Mr Gershkovich, a Wall Street Journal reporter, was arrested in March while on a reporting trip to the Russian city of Yekaterinburg, about 2,000 kilometers (1,200 miles) east of Moscow.

He was the first American journalist to be charged with espionage in Russia since 1986, and is being held at Moscow's notorious Lefortovo prison.

The US State Department and WSJ leadership have strenuously denied the charges, which carry a 20-year prison sentence if he is convicted.

This week, a court in Moscow ruled he must remain in prison until 30 January. The Russian Foreign Ministry has said it will only consider a swap for Mr Gershkovich after a verdict in his trial.

Mr Whelan, a security contractor, was arrested in 2018 and sentenced to 16 years in prison on disputed espionage charges.

His brother David Whelan told The Independent that Paul Whelan was assaulted last week while working on a production line.

Paul Whelan reported the attack to the prison camp’s deputy warden and it is being investigated by the prosecutor’s office, his brother said.

“It is too early to know whether they will take steps to ensure his safety in the future, both from this prisoner and others who may decide they have nothing to lose by attacking Paul.”

Amid worsening relations with Russia since the invasion of Ukraine, the US has arranged two prisoner swaps since the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

WNBA star Brittney Griner, who was arrested in February 2022 after she was found to have cannabis in her luggage, was freed in exchange for convicted Russian arms trafficker Viktor Bout in December last year.