MOSCOW, October 25. /TASS/. Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov stated that there have been no changes in the case of US national Paul Whelan, who is serving a prison sentence in Russia for espionage.

"Currently, there are no changes in Whelan’s case," the Kremlin official told reporters.

"We have nothing to add here," Peskov noted.

Earlier, the US State Department said that Washington had "offered Russia a serious proposal" for Whelan’s release. However, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov told journalists that the Russian Foreign Ministry had not registered via its channels lately any additional ideas or proposals from the US side with regard to this. He assured that if the Russian side receives any relevant proposals, they will be directed to those "who are in charge of dealing with this issue." According to the senior Russian diplomat, these proposals will be considered but currently there is no news nor any changes in the situation on this issue.

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.