MOSCOW, June 23. /TASS/. Kremlin will not comment on the possibility of exchange of espionage convict Paul Whelan for imprisoned Russian citizens. According to Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, the Administration of the Russian President does not engage in these issues.

"We in the Kremlin do not engage in exchanges of Russian citizens for foreign ones, there are other bodies that do it," he explained. "So no comments here."

Moscow City Court sentenced Whelan, a citizen of the US, the UK, Canada and Ireland, to 16 years in prison over charges of espionage. Earlier, the media repeatedly reported that Whelan could be exchanged for Russian nationals imprisoned in the US, including Viktor Bout and Konstantin Yaroshenko.