MOSCOW, April 6. /TASS/. Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov and US Ambassador Lynne Tracy on Thursday discussed the detention in Russia of US national Evan Gershkovich, who works at the Moscow office of the Wall Street Journal, the Russian Foreign Ministry said.

The meeting took place at the request of the US ambassador.

"During the discussion of the issue of the detention in Russia of US national Gershkovich, which was raised by Tracy, the attention of the head of the diplomatic mission was drawn to the serious nature of the charges he is facing. It has been stressed that he was caught red-handed while trying to obtain secret data, using his journalist status as a cover for illegal activities tantamount to espionage," the ministry said in a statement.

"The issue of access to him by representatives of the US embassy, who were duly notified about the fact of the detention, is being considered based on existing consular practice and the legislation of the Russian Federation," the statement said.

The ministry also said that "the hype that’s been created around this case in the US, which seeks to put pressure on the Russian government and the court that will decide Gershkovich’s fate, is futile and pointless."

"Other problematic aspects of bilateral relations have also been discussed," the statement said.

The Gershkovich case

The Public Relations Center of the Russian Federal Security Service, also known as the FSB, said that Gershkovich, "acting at the behest of the American side, collected information constituting a state secret about the activities of an enterprise within Russia’s military-industrial complex." The reporter was detained in the Urals city of Yekaterinburg. The FSB investigators opened a criminal case against the US national under Article 276 of the Russian Criminal Code ("Espionage"). Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that the journalist was caught red-handed.

On Thursday, Moscow’s Lefortovsky District Court ruled to take Gershkovich into custody until May 29. The WSJ said in a statement that it was deeply concerned about the safety of Gershkovich. US President Joe Biden asked Russia to free the journalist.