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Diplomat says 'no deal' to swap Ukrainian terror-tied filmmaker for Russians jailed in US

Earlier, some media said negotiations were underway with the United States on exchanging Sentsov for convicted Russians Viktor Bout and Konstantin Yaroshenko and arrested Maria Butina

© Alexander Demyanchuk/TASS

MOSCOW, October 4. /TASS/. Russia denies there is an agreement to exchange Ukrainian film director Oleg Sentsov, serving a prison term in Russia, for Russian citizens in US jails, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told a news briefing on Thursday.

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"We’ve taken note of reports in a number of mass media about some plans for exchanging Oleg Sentsov, convicted of plotting a terrorist attack in Russia, for Russian citizens in US custody. We reacted to these rumors with surprise."

"There is no such agreement. It’s disinformation," she said. "We demand Washington set free Russian citizens without any preconditions."

Earlier, some media said negotiations were underway with the United States on exchanging Sentsov for convicted Russians Viktor Bout and Konstantin Yaroshenko and arrested Maria Butina.

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