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Paul Whelan’s family hopes ex-Secretary Richardson achieves progress on his case

According to David Whelan, the family has been cooperating with Richardson and his Center for Global Engagement since 2019

NEW YORK, July 12. /TASS/. The family of US citizen Paul Whelan, imprisoned in Russia, hopes that US ex-Energy Secretary and ex-envoy to the UN Bill Richardson will achieve progress on Whelan’s case during his potential visit to Moscow, Paul’s brother David told reporters Tuesday.

According to David Whelan, the family has been cooperating with Richardson and his Center for Global Engagement since 2019.

"We hope this visit will lead to results that have not been possible following his previous interactions with Russian intermediaries," David Whelan said.

Meanwhile, he noted that Richardson, acting as a third side, has "no government mandate," and therefore "not able to offer or agree to the concessions" in the name of the US government. Since the retired Secretary operates outside of the government, Richardson "may not be aware of discussions that are already underway between the U.S. government and the hostage-taking nation."

"This means they can both help and hinder a possible resolution of a detainee's case," David Whelan said.

He expressed his hope that Richardson "may have conversations with people that the US government, for diplomatic or other reasons, is unable to."

"Hopefully, these conversations can create additional shared understandings on which both the U.S. government and Russian government can move closer to resolving Paul's case. We wish for his success and a speedy return of Paul to our family," Whelan concluded.

Earlier, US media reported that Richardson wants to visit Russia to negotiate repatriation of US basketball player Brittney Griner. Richardson Center for Global Engagement Executive Director Mickey Bergman told TASS Monday that Richardson joined the discussion of Griner’s and Whelan’s cases. Bergman refrained from answering questions regarding Richardson’s potential visit to Moscow.

Meanwhile, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov said on July 8 that such visit is not in the works. However, he noted that "the aspiration of such respected figure to aid his compatriots is praiseworthy.".

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