MOSCOW, February 9. /TASS/. The US authorities should meet certain requirements so that Moscow and Washington could agree regarding the case of Evan Gershkovich, Russian President Vladimir Putin said in an interview with Tucker Carlson published on the US journalist’s website.

"There is no taboo to settle this issue. We are willing to solve it but there are certain terms being discussed via special services channels. I believe an agreement can be reached," the Russian leader said.

"Let me tell you a story about a person serving a sentence in an allied country of the US That person, due to patriotic sentiments, eliminated a bandit in one of the European capitals. During the events in the Caucasus, do you know what he was doing? I don't want to say that, but I will do it anyway. He was laying our soldiers taken prisoner on the road and then drove his car over their heads. What kind of person is that? Can he even be called human? But there was a patriot who eliminated him in one of the European capitals. Whether he did it of his own volition or not. That is a different question," he continued.

"I'm talking about other people who are essentially controlled by the US authorities, wherever they are serving a sentence," Putin added.

In his words, there is an ongoing dialog between the special services, and the issue has to be resolved in a calm, responsible and professional manner.

When asked about the possibility of a goodwill gesture on the part of Russia, the Russian president said the West left such steps unanswered in the past.

"We have done so many gestures of goodwill out of decency that I think we have run out of them. We have never seen anyone reciprocate to us in a similar manner. However, in theory, we can say that we do not rule out that we can do that if our partners take reciprocal steps," he explained. "When I talk about the partners, I first of all refer to special services. Special services are in contact with one another. They are talking about the matter in question."

Putin also reiterated that the The Wall Street Journal correspondent was detained in Russia for receiving classified information in conspiratorial manner.

"He's not just a journalist. I reiterate. He's a journalist who is secretly getting confidential information," he said.