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No new US proposals for Russian Foreign Ministry on swapping Whelan — senior diplomat

Sergey Ryabkov noted that if the Russian side receives any relevant proposals, they will be directed to those "who are in charge of dealing with this issue"

MOSCOW, October 25. /TASS/. The Russian Foreign Ministry has not received any new proposals from Washington regarding a potential prisoner swap involving US national Paul Whelan, who is serving a prison sentence in Russia for espionage, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov said.

"The Russian Foreign Ministry has not registered via its channels lately any additional ideas or proposals from the US side with regard to this," the senior diplomat said, replying to a question on the matter.

He noted that if the Russian side receives any relevant proposals, they will be directed to those "who are in charge of dealing with this issue." "And these proposals will be considered," Ryabkov added. "Currently there is no news nor any changes in the situation on this issue."

"Issues pertaining to prisoner swaps, or, more precisely, issues concerning the release of Russian citizens, who, in the vast majority of cases, were given lengthy prison terms under unjust verdicts and illegitimate charges, are discussed as part of interaction between the intelligence services," he added.

Earlier, the US State Department said that Washington had "offered Russia a serious proposal" for Whelan’s release.

On December 28, 2018, Whelan, who holds US, UK, Canadian and Irish citizenship, was arrested by the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) in a room at Moscow’s Metropol Hotel while allegedly carrying out a spy mission. The FSB opened a criminal case against him on charges of espionage under Article 276 of the Russian Criminal Code. On June 15, 2020, the Moscow City Court found Whelan guilty of spying against Russia and sentenced him to 16 years in a high-security penal colony. Whelan is serving out his sentence in a correctional facility in the Mordovia Region. Washington has repeatedly noted that it considers Whelan as one of several candidates for a potential prisoner exchange between Russia and the US.

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Foreign policy United States Sergey Ryabkov

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