WASHINGTON, January 13. /TASS/. Prisoner swaps between Russia and the US prove that the sides managed to separate geopolitics with all its current contradictions from the humanitarian sphere, former US Energy Secretary and diplomat Bill Richardson told TASS at a press conference on Friday upon arriving in Washington with US citizen Taylor Dudley who was handed over to him at the Russian-Polish border.
Richardson who participated in dialogue between Moscow and Washington on exchanging prisoners stressed that now he intends to focus on the case of US national Paul Whelan. "So I'm hopeful that this release and the ones we've taken are positives when it comes to Paul Whelan. I'm not saying it's going to happen immediately. But I think, at least the two countries have been able to separate the geopolitical relationship from humanitarian cases in this sense," he emphasized.
In a separate brief conversation with some reporters following the press conference, Richardson stated that he uses the methods of grassroots diplomacy. He noted that negotiations involve both sides and he gives consultations on the humanitarian level. Speaking of detained Russian and Americans, the former Secretary of Energy suggested to focus on them which may become the path to improving geopolitical relations.
According to him, governments think that they can resolve any issue while sometimes humanitarian independent organizations are the ones "that make things happen."
Richardson was a US ambassador to the UN (1997-1998) and the Secretary of Energy (1998-2001) in the Clinton administration. He served as the governor of New Mexico from 2003-2011, moving on to establish the Santa Fe-based Richardson Center for Global Engagement to promote dialogue "with countries and communities not usually open to more formal diplomatic channels." In the past, he repeatedly traveled to North Korea to facilitate the settlement of its nuclear issues. He also went to Venezuela where he met with Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro to discuss releasing US nationals held in custody in that country. Additionally, he was involved in some other cases related to freeing Americans held abroad for various reasons.
US citizen Taylor Dudley, detained in Russia last April, was released on Thursday and handed over to the US side at the Russian-Polish border, the Richardson Center for Global Engagement which participated in the negotiations on releasing the American confirmed to TASS on Thursday.
According to CNN, the 35-year-old Michigan resident was detained by Russian border patrol police while attempting to enter Kaliningrad from Poland. According to the TV channel, he was in Poland to visit a music festival; his reasons for entering Russia have not been disclosed.