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Blinken says he talked over the phone with Paul Whelan, who is being held in Russian jail

US intensive efforts to bring Paul home continue every single day, added Antony Blinken

WASHINGTON, February 13./TASS/. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken had a telephone conversation on February 12 with US national Paul Whelan, who is being held in Russia.

"Yesterday as it happens, I spoke on the phone with Paul Whelan. Our intensive efforts to bring Paul home continue every single day. And they will until he and Evan Gershkovich and every other American wrongfully detained is back with the loved ones," Blinken said in a speech at the Wilson Center in Washington.

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.

According to Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB), Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, "acting as an agent for the American side, collected top-secret data about the activity of an enterprise of the Russian military-industrial complex." In this connection, the journalist was detained in Yekaterinburg at the end of March 2023; criminal proceedings were initiated against him under Article 276 of the Russian Criminal Code ("Espionage"). If found guilty, he may face up to 20 years in prison. Gershkovich pled not guilty to the charges.

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United States Antony Blinken

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